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THE       FOX-WOMAN       AMONG       THE       LOTUS 


TAMA 


BY 


ONOTO    WATANNA 


ILLUSTRATED  BY 

GENJIRO  KATAOKA 


NEW  YORK  AND  LONDON 
HARPER  &  BROTHERS 
PUBLISHERS  H  MCMX 


BOOKS  BY 
ONOTO   WATANNA 

TAMA Illustrated.    Crown  8vo,  net  $1.60 

A  JAPANESE  NIGHTINGALE.  .  Ill'd.  8vo,  net  2.00 
THE  WOOING  OF  WISTARIA  .  Ill'd.  Post  8vo.  1.50 
THE  HEART  OF  HYACINTH.  Ill'd  in  Tint.  8vo,  net  2.00 
A  JAPANESE  BLOSSOM  .  .  Illustrated.  8vo,  net  2.00 

HARPER  &    BROTHERS,    PUBLISHERS,   N.  Y. 


Copyright,  1910,  by  HARPER  &   BROTHERS 

Published  October,  1910. 
Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

THE  FOX-WOMAN  AMONG  THE  LOTUS  Frontispiece 
WELCOME  TO  TOJIN-SAN  .  .  .Fatingp.  1 6 
"TOUCH  HER  NOT,  BELOVED  SENSEI  ! 

SHE  is  ACCURSED,  UNCLEAN!"  106 

TAMA     AT     THE     TEMPLE     TOKIWA     .  "          iSS 


TAMA 


TAMA 


FUKUI  was  in  an  unwonted  state  of 
excitement.  For  days  the  people  had 
talked  of  but  one  event.  Even  the 
small  boys,  perilously  astraddle  the 
bamboo  poles,  the  scullery  wenches 
of  the  kitchen,  the  very  mendicants 
of  the  street,  the  highest  and  lowest 
of  the  citizens  of  Fukui  talked  of  the 
coming  of  the  O-Tojin-san  (Honor 
able  Mr.  Foreigner). 

For  at  last  the  exalted  Daimio  of 
the  province  had  acceded  to  the 
pleadings  and  eager  demands  of  the 
students  of  the  university,  and,  at 


TAMA 

great  expense  and  trouble,  a  foreign 
professor  had  been  imported. 

Signs  of  preparation  were  every 
where  visible.  Vigorous  houseclean- 
ing  was  in  evidence.  The  profession 
al  story-tellers,  who  took  the  place 
of  newspapers  in  these  days,  reaped 
small  fortunes  in  their  halls.  Some  of 
them  opened  booths  on  the  streets  and 
regaled  their  auditors  with  strange 
accounts  of  America  and  its  people. 

Already  the  Tojin-san's  house  and 
household  had  been  chosen  for  him, 
from  the  Daimio's  high  officer  and  the 
four  samourai  body-guard,  who  were 
to  protect  him  from  any  possible 
Jo-i  (foreign  hater),  down  to  his  body- 
servant. 

An  enormous  old  historical  Shiro 
(mansion),  two  hundred  and  seven 
years  old,  was  assigned  as  his  resi 
dence,  and  was  now  undergoing  cer 
tain  remarkable  changes.  For  heavy 


TAMA 

woollen  carpets,  with  flowers  and  fig 
ured  designs,  were  being  nailed  down 
over  the  ancient  matting  in  the  chief 
rooms.  Strange  articles  of  furniture, 
massive  and  heavy  as  iron,  were 
pushed  into  the  great  chambers,  un 
der  the  supervising  hand  of  a  dapper, 
rosy -cheeked  young  samourai  who 
was  to  serve  as  interpreter  to  the 
Tojin.  His  name  was  Genji  Negate, 
and  he  had  already  lived  among  for 
eigners  in  the  cities  of  Tokyo  and 
Yokohama.  He  spoke  the  English 
language  very  well  indeed,  and  his 
knowledge  of  the  white  man  and  his 
ways  was  extraordinary. 

Now,  as  he  ordered  this  or  that 
article  set  in  place,  his  full  red  lips 
curled  smilingly  under  his  little  bris 
tly  mustache.  He  called  the  ser 
vants  in  one  by  one,  lecturing  each  in 
turn  in  regard  to  his  especial  duties. 
Incidentally  he  regaled  them  with 
3 


TAMA 

tales  of  the  habits  and  desires  of  the 
white  man. 

Food  sufficient  for  six  ordinary 
mortals  must  be  prepared  for  his  in 
dividual  consumption.  Raw  meat 
and  game,  slightly  scorched  before 
fire,  were  essential.  A  never-failing 
spring  of  what  the  original  American 
had  aptly  called  "fire-water"  must 
be  constantly  flowing  at  and  between 
meals  and  day  and  night.  Such  was 
the  thirst  of  the  white  man.  Brooms 
must  be  in  readiness  to  follow  the 
trail  of  the  dust  and  mud-laden  boots 
of  the  professor,  since  he  would  not 
remove  them  even  in  the  house. 
Finally,  his  supreme  favor  could  be 
won  by  having  at  hand  always  the 
sweetest  and  prettiest  maidens  to  en 
tertain  and  caress  him.  And  so  on 
through  a  strange  list. 

If  the  students  of  the  college  where 
the  Tojin-san  was  to  teach  were 
4 


TAMA 

elated  at  the  prospect  of  his  coming, 
their  joy  was  hardly  shared  by  his 
household.  It  was  in  a  flutter  of  ex 
cited  fear.  Even  the  stolid,  impas 
sive-faced  samourai  guard  discussed 
in  undertones  among  themselves  the 
degrading  service  to  which  they  were 
reduced  in  these  degenerate  days. 
To  guard  the  body  of  a  mere  Tojin! 
Well,  such  was  the  will  of  the  Daimio 
of  Echizen,  and  a  samourai  is  the  right 
hand  of  his  Prince.  His  the  task  to 
obey  even  the  caprice  of  his  lord,  or 
take  his  own  life  in  preference  to  ser 
vice  too  far  beneath  his  honor. 

In  the  humbler  regions  of  the  Shiro, 
however,  the  servants  discussed  the 
matter  less  pessimistically.  Some  ru 
mor  of  the  generosity  and  wealth  of 
foreigners  had  floated  across  the  vague 
tide  of  gossip.  Anyhow,  the  prepara 
tions  for  his  coming  went  blithely  on 
here,  and  already  odors  of  vigorous 
5 


TAMA 

advance  cooking  were  being  wafted 
from  the  kitchen  regions,  warming  and 
savoring  the  great  chambers,  and 
awakening  into  noisy  life  the  vast 
army  of  rats  and  bats  which  had  long 
made  their  homes  in  the  eaves  and 
rafters  of  the  old  deserted  mansion, 
now  for  the  first  time  in  years  to  be 
occupied  by  a  tenant. 

Everything  was  quite  in  readiness 
when  the  cook's  wife's  baby's  nurse 
(for  his  entire  family  were,  of  course, 
also  domiciled  in  the  Shiro)  missed  a 
portion  of  her  rice.  She  had  turned 
about  to  give  better  attention  to  mas 
ter  baby-san,  when,  so  she  averred,  a 
"white  hand  "  reached  out  of  nowhere 
and  seized  the  remnants  of  her  supper. 
She  ran  squealing  with  her  tale  to  her 
mistress,  who,  in  turn,  rushed  with  it 
to  her  lord,  the  cook.  He  put  aside 
his  apron  and  sought  Genji  Negato, 
who  solemnly  called  a  council  of  war. 
6 


TAMA 

To  the  four  samourai  guard  the  en 
tire  household  looked  for  a  solution 
and  ending  of  the  impending  trouble. 

Measures  should  be  taken  at  once,  it 
was  unanimously  decided.  It  would 
be  to  their  Prince's  everlasting  dis 
grace  should  the  exalted  foreign  devil 
also  become  a  victim  of  the  dreaded 
Fox  Woman  of  Atago  Yama,  for,  un 
doubtedly,  this  mischievous  and  ir 
repressible  sprite  of  the  mountains 
was  at  her  tricks  again.  In  the  names, 
therefore,  of  the  august  Tojin-san, 
nay,  in  the  very  name  of  the  Imperial 
Daimio  of  Echizen,  it  was  the  duty 
of  the  honorable  samourai  to  spare 
in  no  wise  the  witch  should  she  be 
caught  trespassing  upon  the  estate 
of  the  Prince's  guest  and  pro 
tege. 

They  fell  to  telling  weird  tales  of  the 
latest  doings  of  the  fox-woman.  A 
Tsuruga  child  had  followed  the  witch- 
7 


TAMA 

girl  into  the  mountains,  believing  her 
glittering  hair  to  be  the  rays  of  the 
sun,  and  stretching  out  his  tiny  hands 
to  touch  and  hold  it.  To  propitiate 
the  dread  creature,  the  parents  had 
set  out  daily  food  at  the  foot  of  the 
mountains,  and  thus,  for  a  time  at 
least,  the  hunger  of  the  fox-woman 
had  been  satisfied,  but  the  child  had 
never  been  the  same  again,  fretting 
and  ending  constantly  for  the  "Sun 
Lady."  As  its  peevishness  continued, 
the  parents  revenged  themselves  upon 
its  abductor,  and  ceased  to  set  out  the 
nightly  repast,  bravely  facing  down 
their  fear  of  the  witch's  certain  anger 
and  retaliation. 

Since  then  she  had  been  forced 
to  seek  her  sustenance  elsewhere.  A 
basket  of  fish  disappeared  overnight 
from  a  vendor's  locked  stand.  A  bag 
of  rice  was  found  on  the  mountain 
side  of  the  river,  as  if  the  thief,  find- 
8 


TAMA 

ing  it  too  heavy,  had  dropped  it  in 
her  flight. 

And  now — could  it  be  possible  that 
the  most  distinguished  (though  au- 
gustly  degraded)  guest  Fukui  had 
known  in  years  was  to  suffer  by  the 
depredations  of  the  fox- woman? 

Samourai  Iroka  voted  in  favor  of 
killing  the  witch  outright.  But  not 
by  the  means  of  his  own  personal 
sword,  for  he  was  unmarried  and  had 
no  descendants  to  pray  for  his  soul 
should  it  be  forced  to  pass  along  on  a 
journey. 

Samourai  Asado  feared  for  the 
safety  of  his  wife  and  family  in  the 
event  of  his  honorable  sword  being 
stained  by  the  blood  of  the  witch-girl. 
Once  a  similar  goblin  had  torn  the 
head  and  arms  from  the  body  of  a 
sleeping  babe,  in  revenge  for  the  mere 
pin-prick  of  a  samourai  sword. 

Samourai  Hirata   suggested  refer- 

2  9 


TAMA 

ring  the  matter  to  the  Daimio  himself ; 
but  was  urged  against  this  by  the 
others,  for  was  not  the  fox- woman 
the  one  black  blot  upon  the  escutch 
eon  of  their  exalted  Prince,  seeing  she 
was  indeed,  and  alas!  of  his  own 
blood? 

Finally,  Samourai  Numura,  an  an 
cient,  grizzled  warrior  of  the  most 
stolid  common  sense,  gruffly  insisted 
that  the  matter  was  the  affair  of  the 
Tojin  himself,  and  from  him  alone 
should  they  receive  commands  upon 
the  matter.  It  was  agreed,  there 
fore,  that  they  should  wait  for  the 
coming  of  the  Tojin-san.  Out  of  his 
vaunted  western  wisdom  certainly 
should  he  be  able  to  suggest  the  solu 
tion  of  the  problem. 

And,  in  the  Season  of  Greatest  Cold, 

while  the  snow  whirled  in  feathery 

flakes  over  all  the  Province  of  Echizen, 

and    the    winds    blew    in    laughing, 

10 


TAMA 

whispering  murmurs  through  the  glis 
tening  camphor  and  pine  trees,  across 
the  sacred  bosom  of  Lake  Biwa,  and 
over  the  snow -crowned  mountains 
between,  the  Tojin-san  came  to  Fukui, 
the  "Well  of  Blessing." 


II 


THE  room  was  so  large  that  even 
with  the  seven  lighted  andon  and  the 
three  ancient  takahiras  glimmering 
dully  where  they  hung  from  the 
raftered  ceiling  overhead,  it  was 
chiefly  in  shadow.  Set  at  intervals 
against  the  sliding  walls  were  a  few 
large  pieces  of  heavy  black -walnut 
furniture,  grotesque  objects  in  the 
otherwise  completely  empty  chamber. 
The  room  itself  was  cold,  but  a  ko- 
tatsu  in  the  centre  of  the  room  had 
been  filled  with  live  coals,  and  over 
this  the  Tojin-san  crouched.  He  sat 
upon  the  floor,  close  to  the  fire-frame, 
his  knees  drawn  up,  his  hands  en 
circling  them. 

12 


TAMA 

After  a  long  and  tortuous  journey 
over  land  and  water,  by  boat,  by 
horse,  by  kurumma,  and  often  on 
foot — a  never-ending,  long- winding, 
cold  journey,  the  Tojin-san  was  at 
last  at  home!  This  was  Fukui,  where 
he  had  contracted  to  live  for  seven 
years  of  his  life;  this  vast,  empty, 
bleak  mansion  was  his  house. 

He  had  started  upon  the  journey 
with  an  alert  and  quickened  pulse,  and 
an  ardent  ambition  to  serve,  to  raise 
up,  to  love  this  strange  people  to 
whom  he  had  pledged  himself.  A 
short  sojourn  was  made  in  Tokio 
and  Kioto — days  of  sheer  delight  in 
a  charm  so  new  it  intoxicated.  Then, 
leaving  the  open  ports,  under  the 
escort  sent  by  the  Prince  of  Echizen, 
he  had  taken  finally  that  plunge 
into  the  great  unknown  country  itself, 
where  only  half  a  dozen  foreigners 
had  been  before  him. 
13 


TAMA 

The  journey  had  been  one  of  many 
weeks.  Crossing  waters  in  a  fragile 
craft,  which  tossed  and  heaved  with 
every  tide,  he  had  come  to  know  the 
true  meaning  of  the  Japanese  saying 
that  "a  sea  voyage  is  an  inch  of  hell." 

For  days  his  party  had  been  snow 
bound  on  a  desolate  mountain,  far 
from  even  the  smallest  village  or 
town,  and,  when  finally  they  had 
issued  forth,  it  was  only  to  encounter 
new  perils,  in  savage-souled  ronins 
who  hung  about  the  vicinity  of  the 
Tojin-san's  party,  their  narrow,  wick 
ed  eyes  intent  upon  his  destruction. 
How  many  white  men  before  him  had 
started  upon  a  similar  journey,  in 
other  provinces  of  Japan,  and  met 
the  then  common  fate — a  stab  in  the 
back,  or  in  the  dark!  And  the  pun 
ishments,  the  indemnities,  the  hu 
miliations  forced  upon  the  govern 
ment  by  the  foreigners,  but  added  to 
14 


TAMA 

the  hatred  and  malice  of  the  Jo-i 
(foreign  haters). 

But  the  Prince  of  Echizen  was  of 
the  most  enlightened  school.  No 
foreign  teacher  or  guest  within  his 
province  should  suffer  the  smallest 
hurt!  His  edicts  in  the  matter  were 
so  emphatic  that  they  reached  even 
the  humblest  of  the  citizens,  and  the 
Tojin-san,  did  he  but  know  it,  was 
practically  immune  from  attack.  In 
deed,  his  pilgrimage  was  in  the  nature 
of  one  of  triumph.  Whatever  their 
inner  feelings  toward  the  intruder, 
the  people  met  him  with  smiles  and 
expressions  of  welcome.  Every  little 
town  and  hamlet  sent  to  him  on  its 
outskirts  deputations  of  high  officials. 
There  had  been  feasts  here  and  ban 
quets  there,  and  always  and  every 
where  about  him  he  saw  the  same 
brown  face,  the  same  glittering  eye, 
the  same  elusive  smile. 


TAMA 

Now  the  last  Daimio's  officer  was 
gone,  the  last  officious  minister  of  his 
Prince  had  chanted  his  singsong  poem 
of  welcome,  and  the  Tojin-san  was 
alone! 

Even  the  individual  members  of 
his  household  had  dispersed.  They 
had  come  in  one  by  one  in  solemn 
procession,  led  by  the  samourai  guard, 
who,  as  they  prostrated  themselves, 
sucked  in  their  breath  fiercely,  ex 
pelling  it  in  long,  sibilant  hisses.  The 
cook,  his  assistants,  and  wife  and 
family  formed  a  small  procession  of 
their  own,  one  behind  the  other, 
executing  a  series  •  of  such  comical 
bows  and  bobs  that  the  stern  lips 
of  the  Tojin-san  had  softened  in  spite 
of  himself,  particularly  so,  when  the 
tiniest  one,  a  toddling  baby  no  more 
than  two  years  old,  had  solemnly 
brought  its  diminutive  shaven  pate 
to  the  floor,  and  had  almost  capsized 
16 


WELCOME      TO       TOJIN-SAN 


TAMA 

in  a  somersault  in  its  efforts  to  emu 
late  its  elders'  politeness. 

Now  the  weary,  half-closed  eyes  of 
the  Tojin-san  were  seeing  other  faces, 
his  mind  travelling  backward  over 
other  scenes,  very  far  away.  He 
saw  a  great,  green  campus,  over- 
shadowTed  by  towering  elms.  Bright- 
eyed,  white-skinned  boys  were  singing 
huskily  as  they  swept  across  the  lawns 
into  the  tall  stone  buildings,  which 
seemed  to  smile  at  them  with  maternal 
indulgence.  The  Tojin-san  was  seated 
at  a  desk,  looking  across  at  that  sea 
of  boyish  faces.  Strange  how  they 
had  repulsed  him;  how  he  had  even 
felt  a  bitterness  that  was  almost 
hatred  for  them  in  that  other  time 
and  place !  And  now !  Now  he  caught 
himself  thinking  of  them  with  a 
tenderness  which  almost  stifled. 

Then  the  jaded  mind  of  the  Tojin- 
san  wandered  out  into  another  scene 
17 


TAMA 

of  the  past,  and  out  of  a  longer, 
darker  memory  a  woman's  cold,  un 
smiling  face  mocked  him. 

"Marry  you!"  she  had  cried,  and 
not  even  her  native  courtesy  could 
suppress  the  note  of  horror  in  her 
voice.  "Oh — h!"  she  had  cried  out, 
covering  her  eyes  shudderingly,  "if 
you  could  but — see — yourself!" 

The  Tojin-san  had  indeed  seen 
himself  that  night.  Glaring  back  at 
him  in  a  tragic  grimness  his  own  fear 
ful  face  had  looked  at  him  from  the 
mirror.  Not  that  he  had  not  known 
the  blight  upon  him ;  but  he  had  been 
dull,  stupid,  slow  to  realize  its  full 
horror. 

Time  was  when  the  Tojin-san  was 
as  other  men,  smooth-skinned,  level- 
eyed,  very  good  to  look  upon.  But 
in  a  God  and  Man  forsaken  little  town 
crushed  between  the  mountains  and 
the  sea,  a  young  and  ardent  doctor 
18 


TAMA 

of  long  ago  had  given  himself  up  to 
a  sublime  heroism.  Shoulder  to 
shoulder  with  a  few — one  or  two  only 
beside  himself — they  had  fought  the 
plague  of  smallpox.  From  this  fight 
the  Tojin-san  had  emerged  marked! 
With  the  optimism  and  blindness  of 
youth,  however,  he  had  gone  back  to 
the  woman  he  loved,  and  she  had 
struck  at  him! 

There  is  a  Japanese  proverb  which 
says:  "The  tongue  three  inches  long 
can  kill  a  man  six  feet  tall."  The 
Tojin-san  thought  of  this  now.  A 
woman's  tongue,  the  mere  brutal 
smiting  of  her  words,  had  wrought  a 
curious  effect  upon  his  entire  life. 
From  that  time  on  he  had  avoided 
women  as  he  had  not  a  vile  plague. 
He  led  the  life  of  an  ascetic,  wrapped 
in  his  books  and  sciences,  making 
few  friends,  avoiding  others,  with  the 
sensitive  fear  upon  him  that  the  whole 
19 


TAMA 

world  avoided  and  shrank  also  from 
him.  And  while  still  a  young  man — 
under  forty — they  had  named  him 
"Old  Grind"  at  the  university. 

Then  upon  him  suddenly  had  come 
a  new  upheaval,  a  pent-up,  passionate 
longing  to  break  away  from  the  dull 
hopeless  treadmill  to  which  he  seemed 
bound. 

"Old  Grind!"  So  age  was  to  be 
clapped  upon  him  while  the  vital  fires 
of  youth  still  throbbed  in  an  agony 
in  his  blood.  There  was  a  new  life, 
an  exhilarating,  more  inspiring  life 
to  be  led,  out  in  that  old-new  world 
across  the  seas!  It  beckoned  to  those 
of  adventurous  souls  and  those  who 
were  weary  of  a  drowsy,  torpid  exist 
ence,  wherein  hope  of  a  new  dawrn 
had  vanished  beyond  memory.  The 
Tojin-san  panted  for  this  new  life. 
He  wanted  to  swing  his  arms  in  a 
wilder  world,  to  breathe  less  vitiated 

20 


TAMA 

air,  to  feel  himself  alive  again!  He 
had  made  of  himself,  for  half  a  life 
time,  a  mummy  for  the  sake  of  a 
woman  he  had  not  even  really  loved. 
It  was  fantastic! 

Out  of  this  curious  rebellion  against 
Fate  which  had  swept  upon  him  like 
a  tidal  wave,  the  Tojin-san  had 
broken  his  bonds. 

He  was  in  the  strange  wild  land 
he  had  yearned  for,  strange  faces 
peered  at  him  askance,  and  strange 
gods  mocked  him  from  their  temples 
with  their  sphinx-like  impenetrability. 
And  he  crouched,  shivering,  over  a 
kotatsu  in  a  great,  historical  yashiki, 
cold  and  empty  as  a  very  mausoleum, 
and  the  strong  man  within  him  recog 
nized  and  fought  the  weakness  come 
upon  him — the  aching,  longing,  pray 
ing,  for  the  mere  sight  of  a  white, 
familiar  face! 

So  still  was  the  night,   even  the 

21 


TAMA 

glide  of  a  gaki  (spirit)  across  the 
cracking  snow  without  must  have 
been  heard.  A  breeze  just  trembled 
through  the  frost-incrusted  bough  of 
a  camphor-tree,  and  it  bristled  and 
broke,  the  twigs  snapping  and  bounc 
ing  down  on  the  frozen  ground 
beneath. 

Something  crept  out  of  the  shadows 
of  the  woods  at  the  foot  of  the  moun 
tains,  leaped  like  a  fawn  across  the 
wide  arm  of  the  castle  moat,  and  slid 
over  the  grounds  between  it  and  the 
shiro  Matsuhaira.  An  army  of  crows 
which  lodged  in  the  attic  of  a  dilapi 
dated  ruin  of  what  had  once  been  a 
go  -  down  (treasure  -  house)  suddenly 
began  to  flap  their  wings,  calling  to 
each  other  querulously  and  making 
short,  futile,  terrified  flights.  A  rat 
fled  from  the  go-down  interior  and 
scuttled  across  to  the  kitchen  in  the 
rear  of  the  mansion,  and  the  Tojin- 

22 


TAMA 

san  raised  a  startled  face,  listening  to 
a  new  sound. 

It  was  as  if  one  without  were 
tapping  or  scratching  ever  so  faintly 
upon  the  amado  (winter  walls).  He 
did  not  move,  but  fastened  his  gaze 
upon  the  point  whence  he  had  fancied 
the  sound  proceeded.  Now  it  came 
from  another  direction  and  tapped 
lightly,  timidly  again,  as  a  child  might 
have  done. 

The  Tojin-san  came  to  his  feet 
with  a  bound.  He  flung  wide  the 
screens  of  his  chamber,  now  on  this 
side,  now  on  that,  and  now  those 
opening  upon  the  grounds.  Not  a 
soul  was  visible.  Nothing  but  the 
white,  still  snow,  glittering  like  silver 
under  the  moon-rays.  He  looked  up 
at  the  outjutting  eaves,  felt  along 
them  with  his  hand,  though  a  curious 
instinct  told  him  insistently  that  the 
touch  upon  his  screens  had  been 
23 


TAMA 

intelligent  and  human.  Slowly  he 
drew  them  into  place  again,  and,  as 
he  did  so,  a  voice,  low  as  a  sigh, 
called  to  him  across  the  bleak  snow: 

1 '  To-o — jin-san !  To-o-o-jin — san ! 
To-o-o-jin — san!  To-o-o — !" 

To  jin-san!  That  was  the  name 
he  had  heard  everywhere.  The  one 
they  had  given  him.  Some  one  was 
calling  him,  wanted  him,  needed  him, 
perhaps! 

It  was  a  step  only  down  to  the 
gardens  below.  He  took  it  at  a  leap, 
crossed  the  intervening  lawn  and 
plunged  into  the  wooded  grove  be 
yond.  On  and  on  he  followed  the 
sound  of  the  voice,  still  sighing  across 
to  him,  now  pleading,  now  wistful, 
now  wild  and  now — mocking,  with 
the  tone  of  a  teasing  sprite  which 
laughed  through  a  veil  of  tears. 

Suddenly  he  stopped,  white-lipped. 
He  had  been  within  a  step  of  the  but 
24 


TAMA 

half-frozen  moat.  One  more,  and  he 
would  have  plunged  into  it.  A  shud 
dering  sense  of  horror,  of  shock,  seized 
him,  and  held  him  there  rooted  to 
the  spot,  bewildered,  stunned,  his 
ears  still  strained  listening  to  the 
drifting  voice,  which  had  vanished 
across  the  heights  and  lost  itself  in 
the  white  looming  shadows  of  the 
mountains. 


Ill 

"YOUR  excellency,  though  he  live 
a  million  honorable  years,  could  not 
estimate  the  augustly  degraded  cha 
grin  experienced  by  my  exalted  Prince 
in  my  humble  and  servile  person." 

So  spoke  the  Daimio's  high  officer, 
through  the  interpreter,  Genji  Negato. 

The  American  held  his  shaking 
hands  over  the  replenished  kotatsu 
as  the  Daimio's  officer,  hastily  sum 
moned  by  the  guard,  set  himself  the 
distasteful  task  of  explaining  to  him 
the  existence  of  the  fox- woman. 

A  fox-woman,  so  he  explained  sol 
emnly,  was  a  female  human  being 
into  whose  body  the  soul  of  a  fox 
had  entered.  In  Japanese  mythology 
26 


TAMA 

the  fox  occupies  an  important  posi 
tion,  and  the  fox-woman  is  a  creat 
ure  greatly  to  be  feared.  Her  face 
and  form,  so  said  the  Japanese,  were 
of  a  marvellous  whiteness  and  a 
beauty  so  dazzling  that  a  mortal 
must  cover  his  eyes  to  escape  blind 
ness.  Her  hair  resembled  the  sun- 
rays,  so  bright  and  glittering  its  color 
and  effect.  Gifted  with  this  beauty 
of  face  and  form,  but  devoid  of  soul, 
she  had  but  one  ruling  and  controlling 
ambition.  She  spent  her  days  and 
nights  lurking  about  the  mountain 
passes,  behind  and  within  rocks  and 
caves,  luring  men — aye,  and  women 
and  children,  too! — to  destruction. 

Something  in  the  half  -  skeptical 
smile  on  the  taciturn  face  of  the 
Tojin-san  stopped  the  officer's  recital. 
His  expression  became  troubled,  re 
vealing  a  sensitive  pride  unduly 
wounded.  Plainly  the  foreign  Sensei 
27 


TAMA 

looked  upon  his  explanations  in  the 
light  of  a  fairy-tale. 

"Your  excellency  disbelieves  our 
legend  of  the  fox- woman  ?"  he  queried 
courteously. 

"Legends,"  said  the  Tojin-san  slow 
ly,  "belong  to  literature,  and  are 
tales  to  charm  and  beguile  adults 
and  deceive  children.  In  the  West 
we  no  longer  heed  them.  We  name 
them  superstitions,  and  we've  burned 
out  our  superstitions  as  we  did  our 
witches  in  the  early  days." 

The  Japanese  sat  up  stiffly,  and  in 
the  chilly  room  he  waved  his  fan 
regularly  to  and  fro. 

"You  deny  the  existence  of  spirits 
in  the  West?" 

"At  least  we  do  not  create  them 
out  of  our  fancy  or  thought,"  said  the 
American  gravely. 

The  officer  said  vehemently: 

"They  exist  actively  in  Japan, 
28 


TAMA 

honorable  sir.  Though  you  ignore 
them,  they  will  force  themselves 
upon  you — as  to-night,  excellency!" 

The  Tojin-san  frowned  slightly. 
Then,  thoughtfully,  he  emptied  his 
pipe  on  the  old  bronze  hibachi. 

"You  wish  me  to  believe  that  my 
visitor  to-night  was  a — spirit?" 

"She  was  worse,"  said  the  officer 
earnestly,  ' '  for  she  was  invested  with 
at  least  the  form  of  a  human  being." 

"How  do  you  know  she  is  not 
human?" 

It  was  the  Japanese's  turn  to  frown. 
His  narrow  eyes  drew  sternly  to 
gether.  His  voice  was  stubborn.  He 
spoke  as  if  determined  to  justify  some 
indisputable  course  he  had  taken. 

"She  is  unlike  us  in  any  way, 
exalted  sir.  No  human  being  ever 
was  created  with  such  fiendish  beauty. 
Her  acts  are  those  of  the  gaki,  more 
over.  She  is  mischievous,  impish, 
29 


TAMA 

wicked,  delighting  as  much  in  tor 
turing  and  frightening  the  poor  as 
well  as  the  rich,  little  children  as  well 
as  their  elders.  The  birds  of  the  air 
come  at  her  calling  and  follow  her 
whithersoever  she  bids  them.  De 
graded  dogs  and  cats,  forlorn  beasts 
of  the  mountains  and  the  forests  are 
her  body-guard,  defying  mere  human 
beings  to  molest  or  take  her.  Her 
home  is  among  the  tombs  of  Sho  Kon 
Sha.  She  is  of  the  Temple  Tokiwa, 
long  forsaken  of  men  and  accursed  by 
the  gods." 

The  Tojin-san  raised  himself  with 
a  show  of  more  interest. 

"A  temple  housing  your  dreaded 
fox- woman!"  he  exclaimed,  whim 
sically. 

"Yes,  alas  so,  excellency,"  ad 
mitted  the  Japanese  miserably .  ' '  Her 
mother  was  Nil  no  Ama  (noble  nun 
of  second  rank)  and  kin  to  our  august 
30 


TAMA 

Prince.  She  broke  her  vows  to  the 
Lord  Buddha,  desecrated  and  dis 
graced  his  temple.  The  gods  visited 
their  wrath  upon  her  offspring.  They 
gave  it  a  body  only — no  soul,  save 
that  of  the  fox.  She  is  beyond  the 
pale,  honored  sir,  and  no  clean  being 
may  look  upon  or  touch  her." 

The  Tojin-san,  sitting  up  erectly 
now,  was  holding  his  lower  lip 
thoughtfully  between  thumb  and  fore 
finger. 

"Your  fox-woman  then  is  some 
sort  of  outcast,  who  has  lived  all  her 
life  avoided  by  her  kind?" 

"She  had  the  company  of  her  de 
graded  parents,"  said  the  officer 
gruffly,  "until  she  was  the  age  of  ten. 
Then  a  zealous  band  of  former  Danka 
(parishioners)  assaulted  the  temple 
by  fire  and  sword.  The  parents  of 
the  fox- woman  met  a  deserved  death, 
being  literally  torn  to  pieces  before 


TAMA 

the  very  altar  of  Great  Shaka  him 
self." 

The  Daimio's  officer  paused,  his 
little  black  eyes  glittering  with  a 
fanatical  light.  Then  the  exhilara 
tion  dropped  from  his  voice. 

"But  the  ways  of  the  Lord  Buddha 
are  strange.  How  could  the  devoted 
Danka  conceive  that  Shaka  would 
turn  his  wrath  upon  them  also,  for 
thus  scorching  his  altar  with  unclean 
blood.  Since  the  Restoration,  ex 
cellency,  our  city's  history  has  been 
one  of  blood  and  poverty.  Some 
assert  the  province  is  doomed.  Others, 
more  optimistic,  that  it  is  but  passing 
through  its  new  birth  pains,  and  that, 
as  of  old,  its  history  will  be  glo 
rious." 

The  Tojin-san  puffed  at  his  re 
lighted  pipe  in  meditative  silence. 
Then,  very  quietly,  he  asked: 

"Do  you  lay  the  misfortunes  of 
32 


TAMA 

your  province  upon  this  fox-woman, 
as  you  call  her?" 

"Aye!"  said  the  officer  almost 
fiercely.  ' '  The  hand  of  Fate  fell  heav 
iest  upon  us  after  the  assassination 
of  the  intruder.  We  have  never  re 
covered  from  the  humiliations  heaped 
upon  us  by — the  countries  of  the 
West.  The  bombardment  of  beloved 
Kagoshima  by  the  allied  forces  of  the 
western  nations  followed  almost  in 
stantly  after  the  death  by  violence 
of—" 

He  stopped  abruptly,  and  coughed 
in  gruff  alarm  behind  his  now  shelter 
ing  fan.  He  had  been  upon  the  verge 
of  telling  what  had  been  forbid 
den. 

The  Tojin-san  looked  puzzled, 
baffled. 

"I  do  not  see  the  connection,"  he 
said. 

"Yet — it  is  so,"  said  the  Japanese 
33 


TAMA 

vaguely,  shifting  his  eyes  from  the 
averted  faces  of  the  samourai  guard. 
Said  the  American  forcefully: 
"It  seems  to  me  an  amazing  thing 
that  to-day  when  you   are   frankly 
hoping   to   join   the   nations   of   en 
lightenment,  you  still  give  yourselves 
up  to  barbarous  persecution  because 
of  what,  after  all,  is  nothing  but  a 
legend  fit  for  children  only.     For  my 
part,  I  intend  to  sweep  from  my  house 
vigorously  the   absurd   belief  I  find 
actually  seated  on  my  hearth-stone." 
The  Japanese  said   solemnly: 
"There  are  several  things  in  life 
it  is  impossible  to  do,   exalted  sir. 
We  cannot  throw  a  stone  to  the  sun, 
or   scatter   a   fog   with   a   fan.     We 
cannot  build  a  bridge  to  the  clouds. 
With  this  little  hand   I  cannot  dip 
up  the  ocean.     We  bow  to  the  ele 
vated    wisdom    of    the    West    your 
excellency  has  come  to  teach  us  in 
34 


TAMA 

honorable  chemistry  and  physics,  but, 
though  we  humbly  solicit  pardon  for 
thus  stating,  there  is  nothing  your 
augustness  can  tell  us  of  our  own 
beliefs — and  knowledge." 

He  made  a  slight,  stiff  sign  to  his 
attendants  and  they  assisted  him  to 
arise.  The  American  stood  up  also. 
He  was  smiling  grimly. 

"When  the  snows  melt,"  he  said, 
"I  shall  ask  for  guides  of  your  ex 
cellency,  and  personally  make  a  pil 
grimage  to  the  lair  of  this  dreaded 
fox- woman  of  the  mountains." 

At  that  the  Daimio's  officer's  face 
distinctly  paled.  His  impassive  feat 
ures  were  anxious,  troubled. 

"What  does  your  augustness  seek 
to  do? — regenerate  one  without  a 
soul?" 

"I  wish  merely  to  see  her.  She 
must  be  an  interesting  specimen — of 
her  kind." 

35 


TAMA 

"  'Making  an  idol  does  not  give  it 
a  soul,'  "  quoted  the  Daimio's  officer, 
solemnly.  "Honored  sir,  a  snake  has 
its  charm  to  some,  and  the  vampire 
is  kin  to  the  snake.  In  Japan  we 
believe  the  fox-woman  one  form  of 
vampire.  Condescend,  exalted  sir, 
to  beware." 

The  Tojin-san  laughed  shortly,  con 
temptuously.  He  was  a  man  of  gi 
gantic  stature,  and  as  he  stood  there 
towering  above  his  gleaming-eyed 
visitor  there  was  something  about  his 
attitude  careless,  indifferent,  fearless, 
and  beyond  the  understanding  of  the 
Oriental.  With  a  morbid  recollection 
of  specific  instructions  from  his  Prince, 
the  officer  restrained  his  fingers,  turned 
almost  automatically  toward  the  two 
short  swords  hanging  at  his  side. 

''It  is  my  duty,  excellent  sir,"  he 
said  with  forced  courtesy,  "to  con 
vince  you  of  the  danger  wherewith 
36 


TAMA 

you  seek  to  play.  Condescend  to 
permit  the  humble  one  once  again  to 
be  seated." 

"By  all  means,"  said  the  American, 
hospitably,  and,  in  a  moment,  they 
were  back  seated  upon  their  respec 
tive  mats,  their  pipes  refilled  at  the 
hibachi. 


IV 

"You  have  stated,  honored  sir,  that 
the  Fox- Woman  of  Atago  Yama  is  but 
a  superstition  worthy  of  a  child,  and 
you  have  laughed,  Mr.  sir,  at  the 
possibility  of  danger  from  proximity 
with  the  forsaken  creature.  Thus 
spoke  and  laughed  another  before 
your  time  in  Fukui.  We  of  Echizen 
do  not  forget  the  very  recent  fate  of 
Gihei  Matsuyama." 

"And  pray  who  was  Gihei  Matsu 
yama,  and  what  was  his  fate?"  asked 
the  Tojin-san,  good-humoredly. 

The  fanatical  fire  was  back  in  the 

eyes  of  the  officer.     He  had  thrust 

forward  his  thin,  yellow  face  and  was 

regarding  the  Tojin-san  with  an  al- 

38 


TAMA 

most  venomous  glance.  His  words, 
however,  were  pacific,  and,  as  he 
talked,  the  American  showed  a  greater 
interest  with  every  moment. 

"We  sent  seven  of  our  youths  to 
the  universities  of  the  West.  They 
were  chosen  from  the  most  intelligent 
and  noblest  of  our  families.  Gihei 
Matsuyama  was  one  of  these,  and  in 
him  we  had  particular  interest,  for 
he  was  of  Fukui.  After  two  years' 
sojourn  in  Europe  he  returned  for 
service  in  Dai  Nippon,  and  we  gave 
him  a  position  of  honor  and  housed 
him  in  an  honorable  yashiki  hard  by 
Atago  Yama. 

"As  a  youth — as  a  child,  he  had 
known  the  story  of  the  fox-woman. 
His  honorable  sire  and  other  male  kin 
had  participated  in  the  slaughter  of 
the  parents  of  the  creature.  Now 
with  this  new  wisdom  he  had  acquired 
in  the  West,  as  fresh  as  new-spread 
39 


TAMA 

varnish  upon  him,  Gihei  laughed  to 
scorn  the  stories  of  her  fiendish  origin, 
and  boasted  he  would  dissipate  them 
as  the  air  does  the  steam.  Making 
a  bold  and  ingenuous  wager  that  he 
would  enslave  the  sprite,  he  set  him 
self  the  task  of  tracking  her.  Un 
aided  by  even  the  counsel  of  the 
priests  of  neighboring  temples,  he 
blithely  followed  the  trail  of  the 
witch  over  the  river,  through  the 
woods  and  mountains  and  in  and  out 
of  the  cemeteries,  until  he  had  driven 
her  to  her  final  refuge — the  Temple 
of  Tokiwa,  wherein  no  man  had 
stepped  since  the  accursed  blood  spilt 
before  the  eye  of  the  eternal  Lord." 

Here  the  Daimio's  high  officer 
reverently  bowed  to  the  floor,  ere  he 
continued  his  narrative,  his  eyes 
gleaming  more  fiercely  as  he  pro 
ceeded. 

"As  he  hesitated  upon  the  thresh- 
40 


TAMA 

old,  divided  between  a  desire  to 
penetrate  its  mysteries,  and  an  in 
stinct  which  peremptorily  bade  him 
depart,  she  came  forth  from  the 
temple  doors  dancing,  as  the  nuns  of 
old  danced  for  the  gods,  with  her 
wild,  unbound  hair  outmatching  the 
sun,  and  her  hungry,  vivid,  smiling 
lips  scarlet  as  the  deadly  poppy.  He, 
having  looked  upon  her  face,  became 
blinded  to  all  else  on  earth.  In 
fatuated  and  maddened,  he  sought  to 
touch,  to  seize  the  creature,  when 
she  fled  suddenly  before  him,  mock 
ing  him  with  the  silver  laughter  of 
the  sea-siren  and  hiding  her  face  in 
the  glimmering  veil  of  her  hair. 

"Thus  they  sped  on,  she  ever  be 
fore  him,  with  her  luring  hair  stream 
ing  like  a  gilded  cloud  in  the  wind, 
springing  as  lightly  as  a  breeze 
from  rock  to  rock,  over  brooks  and 
slender  streams  that  melted  in  be- 
4  41 


TAMA 

tween,  up  this  cliff  and  down  that 
dell  and  through  this  valley,  on  and 
on  she  led  the  infatuated  seeker. 

"Suddenly,  while  his  dazzled  eyes 
were  fastened  solely  upon  her,  and  he 
reached  forth  a  hand  to  seize  her,  she 
darted  like  a  nymph  over  some  un 
seen  chasm  of  the  mountains.  He 
stumbled  in  her  tracks,  reached  out 
vainly  to  seize  her,  saw  not  the  gulf 
at  his  feet,  and  plunged  headlong 
down  into  the  abyss." 

The  mask-like  face  of  the  Daimio's 
officer  quivered.  He  wiped  his  face 
with  a  hand  that  shook  visibly. 
Then,  rejecting  his  breath  in  that 
hissing  fashion  so  peculiar  to  the 
Japanese,  he  added  fiercely: 

"This,  honorable  sir,  is  the  story 
of  Gihei  Matsuyama  and  the  Fox- 
Woman  of  Atago  Yama.  It  belongs 
not  to  the  lips  only  of  the  children, 
as  you  name  them,  but  is  true,  well- 
42 


TAMA 

authenticated  history,  which  any  one 
in  Fukui  can  prove  to  you." 

The  Tojin-san  was  silenced.  He 
had  followed  the  officer's  story  with 
unabated  interest.  He  had  no  word 
now  in  defense  of  this  Japanese 
Lorelei.  His  voice  was  grave,  stern: 

"What  did  she  do — when  the  boy 
disappeared?" 

"There  are  different  stories,  hon 
ored  sir.  Some  say  she  not  even 
stopped  in  her  flight.  Others  that 
she  came  of  nights  and  hung  over 
the  edges  of  the  chasm,  shrouding  her 
mouth  in  her  hands  and  calling  to  her 
victim  beneath  as  if  she  had  the 
power  to  lure  him  back.  But  we 
have  no  certain  version  of  this  part 
of  the  tragedy.  For  the  first  part, 
we  have  the  tale,  four  times  repeated, 
from  the  body-servants  of  Gihei  Mat- 
suyama,  who  dutifully  had  followed 
their  master  upon  his  wild  quest." 
43 


TAMA 

The  Daimio's  high  officer  arose  and 
made  several  profound  obeisances  to 
the  Tojin-san.  His  face  had  resumed 
its  immobile  melancholy.  As  he  was 
backing  formally  toward  the  exit, 
bowing  at  every  step,  the  American 
suddenly  remembered  his  name.  He 
took  a  step  toward  him,  his  hand 
impetuously  outstretched : 

"Pardon  me,  the  boy  you  speak 
of  was — near  and  dear  to  you,  was 
he  not?" 

Slowly  the  officer  raised  his  head. 
Not  a  quiver  broke  the  stony  im 
passivity  of  his  face.  His  eyes  met 
the  To jin's  blankly: 

"He  was — my  son!"  he  said. 


V 


THE  sense  of  discouragement  and 
gloom  which  had  seemed  to  take  full 
hold  upon  the  Tojin-san  on  his  first 
night  in  Fukui  was,  after  all,  but 
temporary.  He  awoke  the  following 
morning,  feeling  refreshed  and  in 
vigorated.  The  sun  was  pouring  into 
his  room,  gilding  even  the  farthest 
corner  with  a  friendly  touch.  He 
jumped  out  of  bed,  donned  a  warm 
bath-robe  and  shoved  his  feet  into 
fur  slippers.  Crossing  the  room  in 
a  few  quick  strides,  he  threw  open  one 
of  the  latticed  sliding  doors. 

It  was  a  clear,  cold  day,  but  the 
snow,  enshrouding  trees  and  ground, 
glistened  with  the  warm  sun  upon  it. 
45 


TAMA 

The  army  of  crows  on  the  roof  of  the 
go-down  were  chattering  and  fighting 
among  themselves  like  magpies,  and  a 
monkey,  swinging  by  one  foot  from  a 
camphor  bough,  shook  its  fist  play 
fully  in  his  direction,  screwing  up  its 
face  in  apparent  derision. 

From  the  direction  of  the  narrow 
river,  which  threaded  its  ribbon-like 
way  in  the  valley  below,  a  rollicking 
voice  was  heard  in  song,  and,  pres 
ently,  the  owner  of  the  voice  climbed 
up  the  crest  of  the  slope,  skirted  the 
sunken  garden  hard  by  the  Tojin-san's 
windows  and  moved  across  the  lawns 
toward  the  kitchen  regions  in  the 
rear.  She  was  a  great,  fat  girl,  whose 
enormous,  muscular  arms  were  bal 
ancing  on  either  side  huge  pails  of 
water.  As  she  waddled  along,  wheez 
ing  and  singing,  she  resembled,  to  the 
Tojin-san's  humorous  sense,  a  bag 
of  jelly,  her  bosoms  and  thighs  shak- 
46 


TAMA 

ing  at  every  step,  her  fat  soft  cheeks 
keeping  time  in  unison.  Close  upon 
her  heels,  and,  himself  carrying  two 
smaller  pails  of  water,  the  cook's 
diminutive  heir  toddled  solemnly 
after  her. 

It  was  he  who  first  perceived  the 
Tojin-san  at  the  opened  door,  and  he 
promptly  dropped  his  pails  upon  the 
serving-maid's  heels,  causing  her  to 
kick  backward  in  squalling  alarm  as 
the  cold  water  splashed  about  her 
bare  legs  and  drenched  her  scanty 
skirts.  Doubtless  she  would  have 
punished  her  small  charge,  had  she 
not  at  this  juncture  also  perceived 
the  Tojin.  Her  thick  red  lips  fell 
instantly  agape.  She  stared  at  him 
in  a  stunned  wonder.  Then  her 
knees  began  to  wabble,  and  she 
attempted  to  make  an  obeisance. 
With  every  kowtow  she  essayed,  the 
waters  from  her  pails  bounced  up 
47 


TAMA 

and  merrily  splashed  her.  The  Tojin- 
san  burst  into  hearty  laughter,  and 
after  a  moment  maid  and  youngster 
joined  in  his  mirth.  They  then 
scuttled  off  like  a  pair  of  panic- 
stricken  rats,  their  shining,  wet  heels 
flashing  like  snowballs  in  the  sun 
behind  them. 

This  simple  domestic  incident  put 
the  Tojin-san  into  an  excellent  humor 
at  once.  As  he  looked  after  the 
comical  pair,  and  then  turned  back 
to  gaze,  entranced,  at  the  magnificent 
view  on  all  sides  of  him,  his  garden 
exquisite  even  in  its  winter  dress,  he 
marvelled  at  his  gloom  of  the  previous 
night.  Then  his  glance  went  upward, 
travelled  across  the  pure  blue  sky, 
and  rested  upon  the  snowy  bosoms 
of  Atago  Yama  and  Hakusan.  Sud 
denly  he  thought  of  the  fox-woman. 
There  was  something  chill,  forbidding, 
sinister  in  those  great,  beautiful 
48 


TAMA 

mountains  of  snow,  looming  out  there 
in  the  sunny  sky.  He  pictured  this 
forsaken  creature  threading  her  bleak 
way  under  the  towering  frost -in- 
crusted  pines.  The  gloom  of  the 
previous  night  fell  upon  him  again 
like  a  shadow.  Shivering,  he  went 
indoors,  snapping  the  closed  latticed 
doors  behind  him. 

A  fine  horse  had  been  provided  for 
the  American  teacher,  and  he  rode 
abroad  through  the  streets  of  Fukui, 
under  an  escort  sent  by  the  Prince  of 
Echizen  himself.  Everywhere  the 
friendly  and  curious  citizens  ran  out 
to  see  the  white-faced  teacher,  and 
bows  and  smiles  were  the  general 
rule  on  all  sides. 

Occasionally,  however,  he  met  the 
scowling,  threatening  glance  of  some 
roving  samourai,  who,  the  interpreter 
explained,  under  the  new  order  of 
things,  was  out  of  office  and  conse- 
49 


TAMA 

quently  a  ronin.  It  was  one  of  the 
unfortunate  effects  of  the  Restoration 
that  so  many  men  of  the  sword,  who 
had  previously  been  supported  by 
the  people  as  retainers  in  the  service 
of  princely  houses,  now  found  them 
selves  without  aristocratic  employ 
ment,  and,  too  proud  to  turn  to 
trade,  or  other  equally  debasing  labor, 
they  wandered  about  the  provinces, 
voicing  their  discontent  of  the  order 
of  things,  picking  quarrels  on  the 
slightest  provocation,  and  prophesy 
ing  dread  things  for  the  empire  when 
it  should  fall  under  the  dominion  and 
patronage  of  the  nations  of  the  West. 
The  ronins  were  all  Jo-i  (foreign 
haters),  and  they  alone  the  Tojin-san 
need  fear.  Happily  the  Prince  of 
Echizen  had  furnished  an  adequate 
guard  for  his  protection,  and  the 
students  of  the  college,  themselves 
samourai,  or  sons  of  samourai,  were 
So 


TAMA 

all  pledged  to  protect  the  Tojin-san 
from  harm. 

Presently  they  arrived  at  the 
school,  an  enormous  building,  once 
the  citadel  of  the  Castle,  and  here 
nine  hundred  students  received  the 
Tojin-san  with  a  veritable  ovation. 

As  he  stood  straightly  before  them, 
looking  across  at  that  sea  of  bright 
friendly  faces,  is  it  any  wonder  he 
recalled  another  scene  in  America,  so 
similar,  yet  dissimilar,  and  that  his 
heart  went  out  yearningly  to  the 
youths  facing  him  ? 

These  intelligent,  eager- faced  boys 
were  looking  to  him  to  guide  and  lead 
them.  And,  in  turn,  already  they 
had  pledged  themselves  to  be  his 
vital  friends  and  allies.  He  felt  em 
boldened,  courageous,  proud,  elated. 
Not  for  a  moment  would  he  have 
retraced  his  steps  to  that  other  land 
he  had  regretted. 


VI 


IN  the  Tojin-san's  absence  several 
aggravating  accidents  had  happened 
in  his  house.  While  little  Taro,  the 
cook's  youngest  child,  was  sitting  on 
the  doorstep  in  the  sun,  nibbling 
on  a  sammari  sembei  (thunder  cake), 
suddenly  from  behind  an  adjacent 
pine-tree  the  fox-woman  had  appeared, 
and  before  the  frightened  child  could 
open  its  mouth  to  scream  she  had 
pounced  upon  him,  nipped  the  cake 
cleanly  from  his  hand  and  was  off. 

The  child's  nurse  (who  was  none 
other  than  the  fat  wench  of  the 
morning),  who  adored  her  charge, 
and  had  already  herself  suffered  at 
the  hands  of  the  mountain  witch, 
52 


TAMA 

rushed  out  valiantly  at  the  child's 
loud  cry  of  alarm.  Her  fury  getting 
the  better  of  her  fear,  she  started  in 
pursuit  of  their  tormentor. 

The  latter  she  discovered  serenely 
seated  upon  the  topmost  bough  of  a 
bamboo -tree,  where  she  was  demol 
ishing  the  rice  cracknel  at  her  leisure. 
From  this  perch  she  threw  white 
pebbles,  with  which  her  sleeves 
seemed  loaded,  down  upon  the  head 
of  the  irate  Obun,  and  while  the  latter 
was  execrating  her  and  calling  upon 
Ema  (the  Lord  of  Hell)  to  come  to 
her  assistance  the  fox -woman  slid 
down  the  bamboo  trunk  so  swiftly 
and  so  silently  she  was  beside  the 
terrified  serving-maid  before  the  latter 
knew.  She  felt  her  arms  caught  in 
a  sudden  squeezing  grip.  Sharp  fin 
gers  sank  into  her  thick,  fat  flesh,  crept 
up  along  her  arms  to  her  shoulders, 
nipped  at  her  breast,  her  neck,  her 
53 


TAMA 

cheeks,  her  great  muscular  legs,  and 
with  a  last  vicious  tweak  at  her  nose, 
the  fox- woman  had  again  vanished. 

The  kitchen  was  in  an  uproar,  the 
cook's  wife  in  hysterics,  and  Obun 
herself  reduced  to  such  a  state  of 
stunned  terror  it  was  impossible  to 
get  her  to  stir  from  a  corner  of  the 
kitchen  whither  she  had  fled  like  a 
whipped  dog  for  refuge. 

The  Tojin-san,  as  master  of  the 
house,  was  besought  to  lend  his 
honorable  assistance  and  advice.  He 
ordered  that  Obun  be  brought  before 
him. 

After  some  delay  there  was  a  sound 
as  of  scuffling  and  shoving  in  the  hall, 
and  presently  the  perspiring  face  of 
the  cook  was  seen  through  the  parted 
screens.  He  was  pushing  something 
which  looked  like  a  great  soft  ball 
along  before  him,  and,  in  turn,  order 
ing  and  pleading  with  the  object  in 
54 


TAMA 

question  to  stand  upon  its  feet  and 
help  itself.  He  was  assisted  in  his 
pushing  endeavors  by  a  small  army 
of  lesser  menials  of  the  kitchen,  who 
took  turns  in  pushing  and  shoving 
the  unwilling  Obun  into  the  presence 
of  her  dread  master,  the  Tojin-san. 
Presently  she  was  at  his  feet,  her  face 
hidden  on  the  floor. 

"Come,  come!"  said' he,  suppress 
ing  his  inclination  to  laugh.  "Stand 
up,  my  good  girl." 

This  was  translated  in  sharp  per 
emptory  tones  by  his  interpreter: 

"Thou  worm  of  a  slattern!  Rise 
to  thy  degraded  and  filthy  feet. 
How  dare  thee  bring  agitation  into 
the  chamber  of  the  Guai-koku-jin 
[outside  countryman]  guest  and  pro 
tege  of  His  Imperial  Highness  the 
terrible  Prince  of  Echizen." 

Whereupon  Obun  came  trembling 
ly  to  her  feet,  and  shaking  from  head 
55 


TAMA 

to  foot,  raised  a  pair  of  eyes  that 
rolled  with  terror  to  the  face  of  the 
Tojin-san.  What  she  saw  there  must 
have  reassured  her.  The  rugged  feat 
ures  of  the  giant  foreigner  were  soft 
ened  humorously.  In  the  keen  gray 
eyes  bent  upon  her  she  saw  nothing 
but  kindness  and  understanding.  In 
stantly  she  began  to  whimper,  like 
a  great  baby  unexpectedly  comforted. 

"You  are  in  trouble,  my  good 
girl,"  said  the  Tojin,  in  his  deep, 
kindly  voice.  "Pray  tell  me  what 
ails  you." 

And  the  interpreter  translated: 

"Repeat  to  your  terrible  and  in 
flexible  master  the  incidents  of  the 
morning,  and  arouse  not  his  dreadful 
wrath  with  vain  exaggerations  and 
lies." 

She  opened  her  lips  to  speak,  en 
couraged  by  his  smile,  closed  them 
again,  and  mutely  uncovered  first 
56 


TAMA 

her  arms,  then  her  neck,  and  finally 
her  great   soft   breast. 

The  Tojin-san,  his  brows  now  drawn 
in  a  slight  frown  together,  examined 
the  girl's  wounds,  and  with  the  quick 
eye  of  a  surgeon  instantly  perceived 
their  nature.  She  had  been  pinched 
sharply  by  little  relentless  fingers 
which  had  evidently  flown  with  light 
ning  swiftness  from  one  portion  of  the 
hapless  maid's  body  to  the  other,  and 
finally  with  a  last  mischievous  tweak 
had  left  their  mark  upon  the  round 
bit  of  putty  which  served  Obun  for 
a  nose .  The  To j  in-san  whistled  under 
his  breath.  Obun  had  certainly  been 
the  victim  of  a  most  curious  and 
spiteful  antagonist. 

He  gave  some  brief  directions  for 
healing  the  wounds,  and  then  turning 
gravely  to  his  interpreter  admonished 
his  servants  for  their  excitement  and 
foolish  fears. 

5  57 


TAMA 

Undoubtedly,  Obun  had  got  the 
worst  of  her  fight  with  this  fox- 
woman,  as  they  chose  to  name  her; 
but  probably,  had  she  not  permitted 
herself  to  be  overcome  with  fears,  she 
might  have  left  her  own  mark  upon 
her  assailant  also.  It  was  vain  and 
foolish  to  regard  this  troublesome  one 
who  annoyed  them  so  often  in  the 
light  of  a  spirit  or  witch  or  ghost,  as 
they  believed  her  to  be.  There  were 
no  such  things  in  the  world. 

The  interpreter  repeated  these  in 
structions  with  personal  embellish 
ments,  and  the  little  army  of  servitors 
with  sidelong  glances  of  wonder  and 
awe  at  their  master  sucked  in  and 
expelled  their  breaths,  and,  with  final 
servile  bumping  of  heads  to  the  floor, 
retreated  kitchenward. 

The  Tojin-san  remained  for  a  mo 
ment  apparently  plunged  in  puzzled 
thought.  Suddenly  he  turned  toward 
58 


TAMA 

his  interpreter,  who  was  regarding 
him  with  popping  eyes  of  interest. 
Indeed  no  move,  no  word,  no  action 
of  the  white  man  escaped  the  notice  of 
Genji  Negato,  who  found  him  an 
object  of  absorbing  interest  and  won 
der.  His  manner  of  eating,  his  man 
ner  of  sleeping,  his  manner  of  thinking, 
talking — all  things  about  him,  were 
a  source  of  wonder  and  entertainment 
to  the  young  samourai,  who  was 
more  than  satisfied  with  this  interest 
ing  position  he  had  obtained. 

"Genji,"  now  said  the  Tojin-san 
abruptly,  "you  have  seen  something 
of  the  world.  At  all  events  you  have 
lived  in  the  open  ports  among  people 
of  other  lands.  You  speak  English 
excellently  and  must  have  read  con 
siderably.  Tell  me  what  is  your 
opinion  of  this  fox-woman?" 

Genji  Negato  was  all  flattered 
smiles.  He  drew  up  his  well-groomed 
59 


T  A  M  A 

shoulders  in  a  profound  French 
shrug. 

"It  would  give  me  supreme  pleas 
ure  to  agree  with  your  excellency,"  he 
said  ambiguously,  and  smiled  apolo 
getically. 

"I  see,"  said  the  Tojin-san,  "you, 
too!  Why?" 

The  stiff  expression  on  the  inter 
preter's  face  relaxed.  In  a  blurt  of 
confidence  he  said: 

"I  have  felt  the  fox-woman's  touch 
also,  honored  sir,"  and  blushed  like 
a  boy  at  the  admission. 

The  Tojin-san  was  smiling  broadly. 

"Ah!    When?" 

"The  first  night  in  your  service, 
excellency  —  a  month  before  your 
coming." 

"Indeed.     Tell  me  about  it." 

"I  was  changing  duty  with  Sam- 
ourai  Hirata.  As  a  large  amount  of 
provisions  had  been  put  in  the  store- 
60 


TAMA 

rooms  it  was  necessary  to  mount 
guard  at  various  points  of  the  Shiro 
and  the  grounds.  I  was  assigned  by 
the  Daimio's  officer  to  the  lodge  gates, 
and  there,  to  my  humiliating  con 
demnation  be  it  said,  I  fell  asleep.  I 
carried  with  me  a  box  containing  my 
rations  for  the  night,  and  this  was 
strapped  upon  my  back.  I  am  ad 
dicted  to  sleeping  on  my  honorable 
belly,  which  your  excellency  is  aware 
is  the  proper  position  for  all  sleeping 
animals  —  to  which  kingdom  I  un 
worthily  belong. 

"While  I  slept,  I  dreamed  I  was 
climbing  down  a  mountain-side  when 
suddenly  an  avalanche  of  rock  and 
earth  swooped  down  upon  my  de 
fenceless  back,  pinioning  me  to  the 
ground  with  the  excess  of  its  weight. 
I  sought  to  throw  off  the  burden, 
shaking  my  shoulders  from  side  to 
side,  and  as  I  cast  back  my  hands, 
61 


TAMA 

the  better  to  seize  it,  something 
caught  them  in  a  quick,  elastic  grip. 
I  rolled  over  bodily,  and,  as  I  opened 
my  eyes,  perceived  the  fox- woman 
leaning  over  me.  She  had  cut  loose 
the  straps  of  my  luncheon-box  and 
was  drawing  it  from  under  my  back 
when,  with  a  cry  of  rage,  I  caught 
her  by  the  shoulders  and  pulled  her 
down  upon  me  in  a  vise-like  grip. 
The  blood  rushed  to  her  unearthly 
white  face,  her  piercing  wild  eyes 
blazed  upon  mine  till  my  own  eye 
balls  felt  afflicted  as  if  with  fire.  I 
felt  her  breath,  sweet  as  the  Spring, 
coming  yet  nearer  and  nearer  to  my 
face.  I  was  like  one  inebriated  by 
sake",  with  but  one  impulse,  one 
desire,  to  feel  the  actual  touch  of  her 
unhuman  face  against  my  own.  As 
finally  we  touched  cheek  to  cheek, 
honored  excellency,  my  fingers  re 
leased  their  grip.  Just  as  they  did 
62 


TAMA 

so  a  sharp  pain  stabbed  me  in  the 
cheek.  Before  I  could  regain  my 
wits  the  witch  was  gone." 

He  passed  his  hand  nervously 
across  his  cheek. 

' '  For  weeks  afterward  my  face  was 
marked  with  the  imprint  of  teeth  sharp 
as  a  marmoset's,  your  excellency." 

"And  the  luncheon?"  queried  the 
American,  smiling  in  spite  of  himself. 

"Gone,  too,"  said  the  interpreter, 
aggrievedly. 

The  Tojin-san  laughed. 

"What  a  curiously  greedy  elf  it  is! 
All  its  expeditions  among  mere  mor 
tals  seem  to  be  solely  for  the  purpose 
of  food-getting." 

Genji  opened  his  little  black  eyes 
with  an  expression  of  surprise. 

"But  that  is  natural.  Even  a  fox- 
woman  needs  sustenance." 

"Come  to  think  of  it,  a  fox-woman 
has  the  body  of  a  human?" 
63 


TAMA 

"Certainly." 

"Then  why  not  make  proper  pro 
vision,  and  thus  protect  yourselves 
from  her  pilfering?" 

"Your  excellency  forgets  that  the 
fox-woman's  origin  is  malign.  No 
clean  Japanese  would  undertake  to 
nourish  an  evil  spirit.  The  priests 
of  our  temples  give  us  certain  charms 
which  protect  us,  to  a  certain  extent, 
and  we  heed  their  advice,  which  is 
ever  to  avoid  and  forsake  her." 


VII 

THEY  had  told  the  Tojin-san  in 
Tokyo  that  he  was  to  be  the  first 
white  man  to  set  foot  upon  Echizen 
soil  since  that  historical  period  when 
the  Jesuit  fathers  in  the  sixteenth 
century  had  come  near  to  Christian 
izing  the  nation.  The  subsequent 
edicts  which  expelled  all  foreigners 
from  the  empire  and  made  the  study 
of  Christianity  a  crime  to  be  pun 
ished  with  fire,  crucifixion  or  torture, 
had  had  their  due  effect.  All  this 
was  long  before  the  coming  of  the 
Tojin,  however,  and  Japan  had  broken 
its  hermit-like  seclusion,  and  now 
was  fearfully  and  curiously  holding 
out  a  grudging  hand  to  the  West- 
65 


TAMA 

ern  nations  pressing  her  on  all 
sides. 

The  foreigner  was  already  a  familiar 
figure  in  the  open  ports,  but  so  far, 
in  the  interior  at  least,  no  white  faces 
were  to  be  seen.  It  was  therefore 
with  amazement  that  the  Tojin-san 
first  discovered  signs  that  one  of  his 
race  had  lived  recently  in  Fukui 
before  him. 

It  was  in  the  Season  of  Rain-water, 
the  end  of  February,  a  dreary  period, 
when  the  inexhaustible  store  of  driz 
zling  gray  rain  dribbled  unceasingly 
from  the  skies.  To  break  up  the  mo 
notony  and  depression  of  the  period 
he  had  undertaken,  with  three  favor 
ite  students,  a  short  pilgrimage  up 
the  Winged  Foot  River  for  the  pur 
pose  of  examining  a  cave  at  the  base 
of  the  mountains  wherein,  they  said, 
had  once  been  a  curious  image.  The 
country  people  had  believed  it  to  be 
66 


TAMA 

the  image  of  Buddha's  mother,  with 
her  babe  in  her  arms,  and  pilgrimages 
were  made  from  all  parts  of  the  coun 
try  because  of  its  supposed  healing 
abilities. 

As  the  Tojin-san  examined  the 
cave,  with  the  interest  and  eagerness 
of  the  born  scientist  and  archaeologist, 
the  youths  explained  to  him  the  fate 
of  the  image  in  question.  A  learned 
Bonze  of  the  Nichiren  sect  had 
recognized  it  as  an  image  of  the 
"Criminal  Faith,"  and,  in  an  excess 
of  rage,  had  broken  it  into  fragments. 

Over  the  entrance  of  the  cave  a 
large  board  was  nailed,  and  on  this 
was  emblazoned  the  same  notice  the 
Tojin  had  seen  wherever  he  had 
travelled  —  in  every  city,  town  or 
hamlet,  at  every  entrance  to  temple 
or  palace,  roadside  or  mountain-pass. 
He  had  often  inquired  what  the  notice 
was,  but  his  questions  had  always 
67 


TAMA 

been  politely  evaded,  and  once  he 
was  somewhat  curtly  told  it  was 
simply  one  of  the  laws  of  old  Japan, 
now  rapidly  becoming  obsolete.  Now 
he  turned  abruptly  upon  the  young 
students,  who  were  all  deeply  devoted 
to  him,  and  imbued  with  the  new 
spirit  and  thirst  for  knowledge  sweep 
ing  like  a  fever  over  all  the  empire. 
They,  at  least,  would  answer  him. 

"Higo,  just  what  is  this  notice? 
Translate  it  for  me,  will  you  not?" 
for  the  three  youths  accompanying 
him  spoke  the  English  language  with 
fluency. 

Higo  replied  with  a  slight  flush  of 
embarrassment : 

"It  simply  refers  to  the  Criminal 
God,  your  excellency." 

' '  The  Criminal  God  ?  You  are  very 
vague." 

"Condescend  to  pardon  the  al 
lusion,  honored  sensei,"  said  the 
68 


TAMA 

boy,  apologetically.  "To-day,  we  are 
ready  to  repel  all  such  unworthy 
references  to  your  exalted  nation's 
faith." 

"Indeed,"  put  in  earnest-eyed  Jun- 
zo,  "we  are  not  prepared  to  name 
any  religion  or  god  criminal.  Our 
august  Emperor  has  set  us  a  divine 
example,  since  he  has  honorably 
thrown  open  the  doors  to  any  and  all 
sects,  however  odious." 

"And  for  my  part,"  contributed 
Nunuki  in  his  brusque  and  somewhat 
surly  manner,  "I  agree  with  our  an 
cient  philosopher:  'Dogma  is  a  box  in 
which  small  minds  are  kept.'  ' 

"Dogma  is  a  form  of  superstition," 
said  Junzo,  "and  superstition  awak 
ens  the  meaner,  crueler  passions.  Do 
you  not  agree  with  me,  honored 
sensei?" 

But  the  latter,  his  brows  drawn  in 
puzzled  wonderment,  was  examining 
69 


TAMA 

something  which  had  been  cut  into 
the  wood  of  the  board  on  which  the 
notice  appeared. 

"What — "  he  began,  when  in  a 
singsong  voice,  after  a  slight  shrug 
of  his  shoulders,  Higo  began  trans 
lating  the  text: 

"It  reads  thus,  honored  teacher: 
'The  evil  sect  called  Christians  is 
strictly  prohibited.  Suspicious  per 
sons  should  be  reported  to  proper 
officers  and  rewards  given,'  but  be 
not  afraid,"  he  added  hastily,  "for 
it  is  an  old  law,  and  even  if  still  in 
force  to-day  your  excellency  is  ex 
empt." 

"I  am  trying  to  decipher  what  is 
written  under  it — in  English!"  said 
the  Tojin-san  slowly.  He  took  out 
and  applied  a  magnifying  glass  to  the 
board. 

A  swift,  oblique  look  passed  from 
one  student  to  the  other;  but  when 
70 


TAMA 

the  American  turned  toward  them 
for  enlightenment,  their  faces  were 
as  impassive  as  their  feudal  ancestors. 

"It  appears  to  me,"  said  he, 
thoughtfully,  "as  though  some  one 
had  cut  words  into  the  woodwork, 
and  that — there  are  marks  as  if  an 
attempt  had  been  made  to  blot  out 
the  words.  Now  let  us  see:  'On — 
this— Thomas  Mor— 18— '  Why,  it 
is  recent — within  the  last  ten  years!" 

He  turned  about  in  a  state  of 
intense  excitement.  Something  in 
the  averted  faces  of  his  companions 
increased  his  curiosity  and  suspicions. 
Ere  he  could  frame  another  question, 
Nunuki  spoke  up  abruptly: 

"It  is  well  you  should  know  the 
truth,  Mr.  Teacher.  A  Guai-koku-jin 
[outside  countryman]  lived  in  Fukui 
before  your  time." 

"Recently?"  demanded  the  Tojin- 
san  eagerly. 


TAMA 

"Seven  years  since,"  said  the  boy 
shortly. 

The  Tojin-san  drew  a  great  breath. 
His  eyes  kindled.  He  looked  wonder 
fully  pleased. 

"Then  that  is  why  some  of  you 
students  speak  English  so  credit 
ably?" 

"No,  teacher.  Many  of  us  studied 
in  Yokohama.  Many  have  learned 
by  the  book  alone.  After  the  coming 
of  your  exalted  Lord  Perry,  it  became 
the  chief  ambition  of  all  thoughtful 
men  of  the  New  Japan  to  learn  the 
English  language  and  its  sciences." 

Higo  volunteered  the  above  in 
formation,  but  the  gruff  Nunuki 
quickly  followed  him: 

"Be  not  deceived,  excellent  sensei, 
in  regard  to  the  baku  [fool]  who  was 
here  before  you.  He  was  not  like 
you,  honored  sir." 

"No?    What  was  he,  then?" 
72 


TAMA 

"He  was — damyuraisu,"  blurted 
the  boy  angrily. 

The  Tojin-san  burst  into  laughter. 
It  was  a  colloquial  word  well  known 
in  the  open  ports,  and  was  applied 
to  the  foreign  sailor  of  whatever 
nationality.  It  was  the  Japanization 
of  the  sailor's  favorite  expression: 
"Damn  your  eyes." 

Suddenly  his  face  went  grave,  re 
membering  how  the  sailors  of  the 
white  nations  had  misrepresented 
their  nations!  How,  in  a  constant 
condition  of  drunkenness,  they  rioted 
around  the  open  ports.  The  gravity 
in  his  face  was  reflected  in  that  of  the 
students. 

"It  is  a  subject,"  said  Junzo  gent 
ly,  "ignored  by  common  consent  in 
Fukui,  because  it  is  painful  to  our 
Daimio.  He  was  the  fellow's  patron 
and  protector  till  the  time  when  the 
honorable  beast  betrayed  him.  Pray 
6  73 


TAMA 

thee,  honored  sensei,"  he  added  al 
most  pleadingly,  "do  not  seek  to  know 
further  in  the  matter." 

"At  least  tell  me  what  became  of 
him." 

"Your  excellency's  honored  feet 
are  surely  tired.  Your  honorable 
insides  must  be  entirely  empty.  Food 
is  good  in  that  event.  Let  us  call  the 
kurumma." 

They  were  moving  along  the  road 
toward  the  waiting  vehicles,  which 
were  to  carry  them  back  to  the  little 
boat  that  had  brought  them  down 
the  river.  It  was  indeed  chilly  and 
dreary,  and  their  rubber -coats  and 
hats  of  straw  were  dripping.  The 
Tojin-san,  his  arm  linked  in  that  of  the 
gentle  Junzo,  cast  a  look  back  at  the 
dimly  shadowed  mountains,  and,  as 
he  did  so,  the  boy  dreamily  remarked: 

"The  Fox- Woman  of  Atago  Yama 
will  find  wet  passage  back  to  Sho  Kon 
74 


TAMA 

Sha  this  night.  It  is  said  the  streams 
and  rivers  are  all  billowing  over,  and 
not  even  a  sprite  may  spring  across 
them." 

"Have  no  fear,"  said  Nunuki  gruff 
ly,  looking  back  over  his  shoulder. 
"The  fox-woman  will  find  wings 
suitable  to  her  degraded  feet.  She'll 
not  lack  the  shelter  so  illy  de 
served." 

The  words  were  so  brutal,  the  tone 
of  the  boy  so  full  of  animus  and  hatred 
that  the  Tojin-san  stopped  abruptly. 
He  laid  a  firm,  kindly  hand  on  either 
lad's  shoulder. 

"Who  was  it  spoke  this  afternoon 
of  superstitions  engendered  by  a 
fanatical  dogma?" 

For  a  moment  neither  of  the  stu 
dents  answered,  then  growlingly  Nun 
uki  snarled: 

"  It  is  hard  to  spit  against  the  wind. 
Facts  cannot  be  altered." 
75 


TAMA 

"By  facts — you  mean  the  fox- 
woman?" 

"Her  origin,  learned  sir.  It  is 
impossible  for  the  offspring  of  so  vile 
a  union  to  be  otherwise  than  unclean, 
as  says  the  law." 

The  Tojin-san  said  solemnly,  his 
hand  emphasizing  with  its  pressure 
on  their  shoulders  his  words: 

"I  know  nothing  of  her  origin,  but 
to  quote  a  favorite  proverb  of  your 
own  Japan,  remember:  'The  lotus 
springs  from  the  mud!'  ' 

The  Japanese  were  silenced,  deeply 
moved. 


VIII 

IT  became  common  knowledge  in 
Fukui  that  the  fox-woman  had  taken 
up  her  residence  on  the  Matsudaira 
estate.  The  palace  grounds  covered 
nearly  twenty  acres,  and  were  sur 
rounded  like  a  veritable  wall  on  all 
sides  of  the  estate  by  smaller  build 
ings,  which  had  once  housed  the 
retainers  of  the  Daimio,  but  which 
had  not  been  occupied  for  years  and 
were  in  a  dishevelled  and  forlorn  con 
dition  of  ruin  and  decay.  Two  of 
these  dwellings  had  been  put  in  order, 
and  these  were  occupied  by  the 
samourai  guard,  the  aged  gateman 
who  guarded  the  road  leading  to  the 
mansion  and  the  family  of  the  Tojin- 
77 


TAMA 

san's  interpreter,  who,  himself,  how 
ever,  had  an  apartment  in  the  Shiro. 

It  was,  therefore,  quite  possible 
for  the  fox-woman  to  find  lodging  in 
almost  any  of  the  remaining  struct 
ures,  and  she  could,  if  she  desired, 
move  from  one  to  the  other,  and 
when  unduly  pressed,  return  to  her 
old  refuge  of  the  woods  and  foothills 
of  the  mountains  that  bounded  them 
on  two  sides  of  the  estate. 

More  than  one  of  the  household 
had  thought  they  had  seen  and  recog 
nized  her.  On  a  still,  hazy  night, 
when  the  golden  moon  barely  showed 
an  inquiring  face  in  promise  of  the 
summer  nights  to  come,  Genji  Negato 
had  shown  her  to  the  samourai 
guard.  Just  a  white,  fleeting  face 
glimmering  out  like  that  of  some 
hunted  thing  between  the  slender, 
towering  trunks  of  a  grove  of  bam 
boo.  A  moment  only  under  the 
78 


TAMA 

streak  of  moonbeam,  and  then  it  had 
vanished  like  a  mist  at  twilight. 

Was  it  a  dream,  they  asked  them 
selves,  or  indeed  a  manifestation  of 
the  just  anger  of  the  Buddha  for  sins 
committed  in  a  former  state.  Were 
they  henceforth  to  be  harassed, 
goblin-haunted  ? 

And  in  the  dawn,  before  the  sun 
had  barely  shown  its  first  glimmer  of 
light  across  the  eastern  sky — in  the 
misty,  dewy,  clammy  dawn — the  maid 
Obun  had  again  come  face  to  face 
with  her. 

Obun  was  bent  upon  her  usual 
task  of  the  morning,  the  bringing  of 
water  from  the  pond  to  the  house. 
Her  eyes  were  swollen  with  sleep, 
she  yawned  cavernously,  and  as  she 
stooped  to  dip  the  first  of  the  pails 
into  the  water,  something  stirred  the 
other  side  the  pond,  and  she  looked 
across  to  gaze,  with  fascinated  eyes, 
79 


TAMA 

at  the  fox-woman,  whose  long,  sunlit 
hair  dripped  in  and  out  among  the 
lotus  and  the  water-lilies,  as  if  she 
bathed  it  in  their  perfumed  purity. 
Through  this  dripping  veil  of  hair  her 
face  gleamed  whitely.  Her  lips  fell 
apart  as  though  she  listened,  her  eyes 
were  startled,  wild,  and  looked  not  at 
but  through  and  beyond  the  dumb 
struck  serving -maid  as  though  she 
saw  her  not  at  all.  Slowly,  stealthily, 
the  fox- woman  came  to  her  feet, 
still  with  that  weird,  seeking,  listening 
look  upon  her  face,  and  thus  with 
backward,  shivering  glances,  she  re 
treated  to  the  bamboo  grove. 

To  his  own  amused  dismay,  the 
Tojin-san  found  himself  constantly  on 
the  watch  for  her.  He  had  never 
seen  the  witch,  but  he  had  heard  and 
felt  her.  She  crept  upon  him  in  the 
evenings  when  he  strolled  about  his 
garden,  and  she  seemed  to  follow  his 
80 


TAMA 

footsteps  with  the  stealthiness  of  a 
wildcat,  disappearing  as  fleetly  as 
the  wind  at  his  mere  turning. 

He  was  aware  of  her  constant  near 
ness  if  he  merely  stepped  out  of  his 
house.  Once  when  something  brushed 
his  cheek  he  was  startled  to  find  him 
self  believing  at  once  that  it  was  she 
who  had  touched  him.  He  plunged 
into  the  brush  at  his  side,  and,  in  the 
dark,  thrust  back  the  branches  of  the 
low-growing  trees  and  bushes  only  to 
find  himself  up  to  his  knees  in  water 
where  he  had  stepped  unawares  into 
an  overgrown  rookery  and  fish-pond. 
As  he  floundered  helplessly  about 
he  heard  her  softly  laughing  in  a 
weird,  mocking  voice,  which  nev 
ertheless  seemed  to  overrun  with 
tears. 

Holding  his  breath  unconsciously 
he  found  himself  straining  his  ears  to 
listen  to  the  sound,  which  indeed  was 
81 


TAMA 

so  faint  a  whisper  of  a  laugh  he  could 
have  believed  he  dreamed  it. 

Sometimes  as  he  drove  abroad 
through  the  country  she  called  to 
him  from  behind  sheltering  hillocks, 
and  sometimes  it  seemed  her  voice 
floated  down  to  him  from  some 
height — some  giant  tree-top,  heavy 
laden  with  foliage ;  for  it  was  the  time 
of  "Little  Plenty"  (May)  and  all  the 
land  was  green  and  warm. 

He  found  himself  listening  for  her 
call  —  stopping,  waiting  for  it,  and 
returning  with  a  sense  of  bitter  dis 
appointment  when  he  heard  it  not. 
The  servants  gossiped,  the  samourai 
whispered  among  themselves.  They 
said  the  fox-woman  had  put  a  spell 
upon  him.  Genji  Negato  repeated 
this  to  him,  and  was  rewarded  by  a 
look  of  startled  contempt  and  anger. 

"Spell!"  The  man  of  science  re 
pelled  the  very  thought ;  but  he  began 
82 


TAMA 

to  avoid  the  mountain  -  sides  of  his 
estate,  and  turned  in  preference  to 
the  river-road,  whither  she  could  not 
follow  unless  she  revealed  herself. 

Late  that  month,  with  no  advance 
warning  of  its  coming,  whatever,  a 
typhoon  swept  venomously  across  the 
province,  leaving  in  its  wake  a  shat 
tering  storm  that  shook  and  beat  upon 
the  aged  Shiro  for  a  day  and  night; 
and,  in  the  night,  one  encountered 
the  shadow  of  the  fox-woman  in  the 
great  deserted  halls  of  the  Matsu- 
haira  mansion. 

A  wildly  shrieking  housemaid,  call 
ing  "Hotogoroshi!"  (murder)  at  the 
top  of  her  voice,  gave  the  alarm,  and 
from  all  parts  of  the  palace  the 
menials  scuttled  like  frightened  rats, 
taking  refuge  in  the  great  kitchen  in 
the  rear. 

Even  Genji  Negato,  with  blanched 
face  and  shaking  knees,  followed  the 
83 


TAMA 

last  agitated  obi  into  this  dubious 
shelter.  Here  fortifying  himself  with 
heavier,  if  not  trustier,  implements 
than  his  swords  he  recovered  his  wits 
sufficiently  to  attempt  to  rally  the 
panic-stricken  army  of  servitors. 
Each  in  turn  was  ordered,  urged,  be 
sought  to  go  to  the  Tojin-san's  apart 
ment.  It  was  dastardly,  so  he  averred, 
to  leave  the  foreigner  alone  to  face 
the  unknown  peril  menacing  him. 
For  plain  it  was  to  be  seen  that  she 
who  had  hitherto  confined  her  malign 
activities  to  the  large  outdoors,  had 
stepped  at  last  across  the  threshold 
of  the  doomed  palace.  Undoubtedly, 
the  typhoon  which  had  crushed  half 
the  city  so  cruelly  had  been  sum 
moned  by  the  witch  in  token  of  her 
power  over  them.  Something  horri 
ble,  sinister,  was  about  to  happen. 
Who  could  tell  exactly  what;  but 
the  signs  were  evil,  evil! 
84 


TAMA 

He  forgot  the  difference  in  his 
state  and  rank  to  these  creatures  of 
the  kitchen,  and  found  himself  con 
fiding  to  them  his  worst  fears. 

The  Tojin-san  slept  from  north  to 
south,  the  position  proper  for  a 
corpse  alone!  Genji  Negato  had 
pleaded  with  him  to  change,  but  the 
foreigner  had  laughed  and  insisted 
it  was  the  true,  scientific  position, 
from  pole  to  pole,  in  harmony  with 
the  electric  currents  of  the  atmos 
phere. 

The  night  before  all  four  of  the 
samourai  guard  had  heard  the  plain 
tive  howling  of  a  dog;  an  owl  was 
seen  black  athwart  the  moon;  a  tail 
less  cat  fled  under  the  Uki  (goblin- 
tree).  The  samourai  had  dutifully 
reported  all  these  happenings  to  the 
Tojin-san,  and  now,  when  the  blow 
seemed  about  to  fall  upon  him, 
this  stalwart  guard,  provided  by  their 
85 


TAMA 

prince,  were  sleeping  comfortably  in 
their  yashiki  on  the  very  edge  of 
the  estate.  It  was  the  workings  of 
the  gods! 

Goto,  the  cook,  found  his  fluttering 
tongue. 

"This  very  morning,"  said  he,  "I 
trod  thrice  upon  an  egg-shell." 

"I  miserably  entangled  my  obi 
when  dressing,"  said  another. 

"And  I,  alas!  bit  my  tongue  when 
eating.  My  mistress  said  it  was  a 
sign  some  one  begrudged  me  my  food. 
Who  indeed  but  this  spiteful  fiend  of 
the  mountains?" 

"Twice  this  week,"  wailed  the 
cook's  wife,  "little  Taro  broke  his 
chopsticks  when  eating." 

She  fell  to  sobbing  violently  into 
her  sleeve. 

"Condescend  to  hush!"  said  Genji 
Negate.  "Remaining  silent  is  good." 
The  interpreter's  yellow  face  had 
86 


TAMA 

turned  ashen,  his  hair  appeared  to 
stand  almost  on  end,  as  he  listened 
with  suspended  breathing. 

Outside  the  wild  rain  beat  against 
the  wind-swept  trees,  and  dashed 
peltingly  against  the  ancient  Shiro. 
Jagged  flashes  of  lightning  zigzagged 
across  the  skies  showing  clearly 
through  the  walls,  though  the  amado 
were  in  place.  It  was  not,  however, 
to  the  sound  of  the  tempest  that  the 
interpreter  was  giving  ear.  Some 
where  within  the  Shiro  itself  new 
sounds  were  heard.  It  was  as  if  a 
wind  passed  along  the  great  halls 
and  corridors  and  close  upon  its  soft- 
footed  flight  there  dashed  something 
heavy,  pursuing. 

Suddenly  the  main  sliding  screen 
or  door,  which  led  into  the  halls, 
fell  inward  with  a  crash.  Over  it 
something  bounded  like  a  ball  of 
fiery  light,  passed  through  the  kitchen 
87 


TAMA 

swift  as  a  lightning  flash  and  shot  out 
into  the  storm,  letting  in  a  gust  of 
rain  and  wind  and  thunder  through 
the  shaking  doors. 

A  moment  later  only,  and  panting 
like  an  animal  in  the  chase,  the  great 
Tojin  burst  into  the  chamber.  He 
stopped  short,  staring  as  if  con 
founded  at  the  group  shuddering 
against  the  farthermost  wall.  Slowly 
his  gray  face  relaxed  its  tension.  He 
tried  to  speak  normally,  but  in  spite 
of  himself  his  voice  shook,  though  his 
words  were  terse,  commanding. 

"There  is  nothing  to  be  afraid 
of,"  he  said.  "Translate  that,  if  you 
please,  to  the  servants,"  he  sternly 
ordered  his  interpreter. 

The  latter's  teeth  were  chattering. 
He  could  barely  speak. 

"Your  excellency  —  you  yourself 
have  seen — " 

"I  saw  nothing,"  said  the  Tojin- 
88 


TAMA 

san,  doggedly,  "save  the  figure  of  a 
—woman!" 

"A  woman!"  cried  the  interpreter, 
almost  in  tears  at  the  evident  stub 
bornness  of  this  fool-white-man. 
"Ah,  most  high-up  sir,  would  you 
have  condescended  pursuit  of  a  mere 
female  creature?" 

The  Tojin-san  looked  care-worn, 
haggard,  as  if  he  struggled  within 
himself.  His  deep,  stern  voice  quiv 
ered  in  spite  of  himself. 

"She  was  pressed  against  my  wall, 
and  fled  fleetly  as  a  wild  thing  when 
I  threw  the  doors  open.  The  halls 
were  unlighted.  I  could  barely  see 
her.  My  eyes  were  dazzled  at  the 
sudden  darkness.  I  may  have  been 
mistaken.  And  yet  —  and  yet  —  it 
seemed  to  me — her  hair  was — gold!'1 

7 


IX 

"I  AM  determined  to  satisfy  my — 
call  it  curiosity  if  you  will — in  regard 
to  this  fox- woman,"  the  Tojin-san 
told  the  three  students  who  were  his 
almost  constant  companions  outside 
the  school. 

"I  can  get  no  help  whatever  from 
my  servants  and  less  from  the  guard. 
Genji  Negate  is  worse  than  a  woman, 
and  the  Daimio's  officer  has  point 
blank  refused  to  give  me  a  guide  to 
direct  me  to  her  home  on  Atago 
Yama." 

He  paused  and  looked  at  the  em 
barrassed  faces  of  the  students.  They 
were  devoted  to  him  he  knew,  eager 
to  serve  and  please  him;  yet  even 
90 


TAMA 

they,  sons  of  the  new,  sane  Japan, 
feared  the  fox-woman.  He  was  de 
termined  to  win  them  over. 

"So  I  want  your  help,  Junzo,  and 
yours,  and  yours,  Nunuki  and  Higo. 
You  can  help  me  if  you  will." 

' '  In  what  way  ?"  demanded  Nunuki 
cautiously. 

"In  any  way  you  wish.  Devise 
some  scheme  to  trap  this  creature  of 
the  mountains." 

"Can  we  trap  the  north  wind  when 
it  raves  over  the  wilderness  ?  Can  we 
trap  even  the  gentlest  zephyr  when 
it  dances  across  sunlit  paths?"  asked 
Junzo,  wistfully. 

' '  But  the  fox- woman  is  neither  the 
rough  north  wind,  nor  the  playful 
zephyr  of  the  south.  She  has  a 
physical  body,  which  even  you  will 
admit.  The  wildest  thing  of  the  wild 
est  forest  can  be  caught,"  and  he  add 
ed ,  half  under  his  breath ,"  and  tamed ." 


TAMA 

Higo  was  considering,  his  young 
patrician  face  very  thoughtful  and 
intent;  but  Junzo  with  a  burst  of 
boyish  pity  put  his  hand  timidly, 
affectionately  into  that  of  the  Tojin's. 

"Ah,  dear  sensei,"  he  said,  "you 
are  tortured,  obsessed  by  this 
wretched  witch.  She  has  put  her 
evil  spell  upon  you." 

"Nonsense,"  said  his  teacher,  al 
most  roughly,  releasing  his  hand. 
"This  is  not  helping  me,  Junzo." 

"But  you  have  never  heard  the 
story  of  Chuguro.  It  happened  in 
Yedo,  many  years  ago,  your  excel 
lency.  He  was  in  the  service  of  a 
Hatamoto  named  Suzuki,  and  seemed 
like  any  other  contented  and  healthy 
ashigaru.  Then  came  a  time  when 
his  comrades  missed  him  in  the  night, 
and  they  would  not  again  see  him 
till  just  before  the  dawn,  when  he 
would  creep  back  to  his  quarters 
92 


TAMA 

looking  very  strange  and  white  and 
exhausted.  He  became  weaker  and 
weaker  from  day  to  day,  and  at  last 
was  unable  to  leave  his  couch  at  all, 
though  he  pleaded  and  begged  to  be 
carried  to  the  foot  of  a  little  bridge 
not  far  from  the  main  gateway.  But 
his  friends  were  obdurate.  They 
called  in  a  great  Chinese  surgeon,  who 
made  an  examination  of  the  dying 
man  and  declared  his  veins  had  been 
literally  drained  dry  of  blood!  All 
declared  it  was  the  fox- woman;  but 
the  Chinese  doctor  said:  'It  was  a 
frog,  which  took  to  the  soldier's  eyes 
the  form  of  a  woman.'  '  The  boy 
paused,  eying  his  teacher  wistfully. 
"It  is  only  a  legend  you  will  say, 
sensei,  but  I  beseech  thee,  honored  sir, 
to  avoid  contact  with  even  a  stray 
fly,  a  spider,  any  crawling  thing  that 
may  beat  its  way  into  your  yashiki. 
Who  knows  what  form  this  dread- 
93 


TAMA 

ful    fox-woman   may    take    to    lure 
you." 

Higo  broke  in  impatiently: 

"If  indeed  our  sensei  is  tortured, 
why  waste  words  on  idle  tales  of  the 
past?  It  is  our  duty  to  conceive 
some  sensible  scheme  by  which  to 
rid  his  excellency  of  the  torture." 

He  began  to  talk  swiftly  and  eagerly 
to  his  friends  in  Japanese,  and  gradu 
ally  their  resisting  and  doubting  faces 
changed.  With  boy -like  zeal  they 
discussed  the  adventure  proposed  by 
Higo.  Then  the  latter  turned  ab 
ruptly  back  to  the  Tojin-san. 

"You  will  permit  us  free  access 
to  your  grounds  at  all  and  any 
hours?" 

' '  Most  certainly.  I  will  so  instruct 
the  gateman." 

"And,  if  necessary,  we  may  call 
upon  the  guard  for  assistance?" 

The  Tojin-san  slightly  smiled. 
94 


TAMA 

"Come  now,  surely  you  don't  an 
ticipate  so  hard  a  task?" 

"We  cannot  tell.  Even  the  guard 
may  prove  insufficient,  but  with 
Shaka's  aid  we  may  succeed!" 

A  look  of  alarm  came  to  the  Tojin- 
san's  face. 

"I  wish  no  harm  whatever  to  be 
fall  her.  If  you  can  surprise  her  upon 
one  of  her  nightly  peregrinations  in 
our  neighborhood,  and  induce  her 
gently  but  firmly  to  accompany  you, 
it  will  be  gratifying.  Once  brought 
face  to  face  with  other  people — for  I 
am  convinced  she  is  the  same  as  we 
are — I  hope  to  be  able  to  lay  this 
bugaboo  of  a  fox-woman." 

"As  for  that,  impossible  to  say," 
said  Higo  vaguely.  "Now  sinking, 
now  floating,  thus  is  life  says  the  poet. 
If  disaster  befall  us  in  the  undertak 
ing  it  will  be  as  decreed  of  the  gods. 
All  things  are  beforehand  ordained." 
95 


TAMA 

"You  anticipate  hazard  in  the 
adventure?" 

"We  would  not  attempt  it  other 
wise,"  proudly  asserted  Nunuki,  his 
hand  unconsciously  caressing  his 
sword-hilt,  for  these  boy  -  samourai 
all  wore  the  sword.  Higo  indeed  was 
of  a  princely  house,  and  kin  to  Echi- 
zen  himself. 

As  the  American  looked  at  them, 
nerving  themselves  thus  bravely  for 
an  encounter  which  to  them  at  least 
was  a  deadly  one,  he  suddenly  thought 
of  that  frail,  fleeing  shadow  which 
had  gone  before  him  in  the  gloom  of 
the  unlighted  halls,  and,  unconscious 
ly,  he  smiled.  Why,  boys  as  they 
were,  any  one  of  them  could  surely 
have  crushed  her  between  the  palms 
of  his  sinewy  young  hands.  If  there 
were  a  real  risk  to  run,  he  knew  he 
would  be  the  first  to  thrust  himself 
in  their  way.  But  no!  The  under- 
96 


TAMA 

taking  was  worth  while,  necessary, 
indeed,  if  only  for  the  purpose  of 
demonstrating  the  foolishness  and 
cruelty  of  superstition.  Even  the 
melancholy  tones  of  his  favorite  pupil, 
chanting  almost  monotonously  the 
Buddhist  text : 

"Brief  is  the  time  of  pleasure,  and 
quickly  turns  to  pain,  and  whatsoever 
is  born  must  necessarily  die,"  failed 
to  move  him. 

Young  heroic  fatalists!  His  heart 
went  out  to  them  overwhelmingly. 


X 


THEY  had  dug  a  trench  hard  by  the 
castle  moat.  Over  this  they  spread 
a  net  made  of  stout  hempen  rope, 
the  edges  of  which  were  threaded  in 
and  out  with  elastic  of  great  strength. 
This  was  stretched  out  and  pinned, 
not  too  firmly,  till  it  encircled  and 
covered  the  pit.  Then  the  sod  and 
leaves  and  flower  petals  were  care 
fully,  though  thinly,  replaced,  and  the 
trap  was  ready  for  the  Fox- Woman  of 
Atago  Yama. 

Over  all  the  Matsuhaira  Shiro  a 
tense,  silent  excitement  pervaded. 
Though  the  students  had  worked  in 
secret,  swiftly  and  silently  on  a 
dusky,  rainy  night,  when  their  prey 
98 


TAMA 

would  not  be  likely  to  be  abroad, 
nevertheless  no  smallest  menial  on 
the  place  but  knew  that  measures 
had  been  taken  to  entrap  the  fox- 
woman.  They  shivered  deliciously 
over  the  dreadful  prospect,  for  dire 
things  had  been  promised  them  by 
the  too  garrulous  Genji  Negate,  should 
any  slightest  inkling  of  the  plans  leak 
out  from  the  Shiro  itself. 

Even  the  Tojin-san,  who  had  been 
kept  in  complete  ignorance  of  the 
actual  methods  they  had  taken  to 
entrap  her,  was  affected  by  that  name 
less  feeling  of  uneasiness  and  unquiet, 
of  repressed  excitement  and  strained 
fear,  which  animated  every  other 
individual  of  his  household. 

Throughout  the  evening  he  paced 
his  great  chamber  in  a  moody, 
wretched  silence.  The  sense  of  alone- 
ness,  of  homesickness  that  sometimes 
came  upon  him  in  this  land,  seemed 
99 


TAMA 

somehow  this  night  to  be  deeper, 
more  depressing.  For  days,  indeed, 
he  had  been  affected  by  a  feeling 
of  impending  gloom  and  disaster. 
He  had  been  restless,  dissatisfied, 
nervous — unconsciously  listening  and 
waiting  for  something  he  seemed  to 
expect  was  about  to  happen.  Now 
he  found  himself  analyzing  this  sick 
sense  of  depression  which  had  per 
vaded  his  whole  being  these  latter 
days,  and  seemed  to  reach  its  culmina 
tion  on  this  silent  night. 

Was  it  something  in  the  look  or 
tone  of  a  student  who  recalled  one  of 
his  own  people,  or  was  it  the  letters 
that  had  come  to  him  from  across  the 
seas  that  made  him  realize  they  had 
cared  for  him  more  in  that  other 
country  than  he  had  realized  ?  No — 
he  faced  the  situation.  This  was  not 
what  had  awakened  the  fever  within 
him. 

100 


TAMA 

It  was  something  deeper,  some 
thing  very  beautiful  and  mystic. 
It  was  the  golden  hair  of  this  Japanese 
Lorelei  which  had  ensnared  his  long 
ing!  He  could  not  banish  its  glitter, 
its  "sun"  as  they  called  it  here,  its 
wild  appeal  from  his  mind.  What 
was  this  creature  of  the  mountains 
then,  whom  the  gentlest  of  people 
had  outcast?  And  what  was  this 
spell  they  said  she  had  cast  upon  him  ? 
The  words  seized  upon  his  fancy, 
writhed  his  lips  into  a  tortured  smile. 
He,  whom  a  mere  woman  had  scorned, 
under  the  spell  of  a  witch — a  wild 
creature  of  these  Japanese  mountains 
whose  face  he  had  never  even  seen! 
It  was  preposterous — fantastic !  And 
yet! 

The  blood  forsook  his  face,  his  lips. 
For  days,  for  weeks,  aye,  for  months 
he  had  thought  of  little  else.  Through 
half  the  luminous  nights  he  had 

101 


TAMA 

watched  and  waited  for  her — had 
sought  her  desperately,  hungrily. 
Day  and  night  he  had  been  waiting 
for  her — waiting  and  listening,  always 
listening,  for  that  appealing  voice  of 
mockery  and  anguish  that  called  to 
him  insistently — to  him  alone!  What 
mad  fancies  were  these  that  had 
woven  themselves  like  a  subtle 
spider's  web  into  his  clear,  sane  mind  ? 
It  was  the  country,  the  people!  He 
was  in  a  land  of  gods  and  spirits ! 

The  night  was  very  still  and  humid. 
The  rain  was  gone,  but  its  wet  touch 
still  clung  in  the  air  and  was  moist 
upon  the  grass  and  trees.  The  shoji 
of  the  chamber  had  been  removed 
entirely  on  the  garden  side,  so  that 
he  practically  was  out-of-doors  in 
an  open  pavilion  or  verandah.  He 
could  see  the  moon-tipped  branches  of 
the  trees  under  whose  shade  myriad 
fireflies  flickered  in  and  out,  rivalling 

IO2 


TAMA 

the  distant  stars  above  them  in  brill 
iancy. 

A  cherry  grove,  from  which  blew 
fairy  flakes,  like  confetti  at  a  carnival, 
was  at  the  extremity  of  the  garden, 
and  ever  and  anon  a  shower  of  these 
dancing  -  petals  blew  into  his  apart 
ment,  giving  it  an  almost  festive  air. 
Great  drifts  of  them  lay  in  the 
corners  of  the  room,  like  snow,  and 
upon  his  couch,  his  tables,  chairs  and 
other  furnishings,  marking  them  with 
a  white  touch.  In  the  shadow  of  a 
bamboo  grove  an  uguisu  thrilled  forth 
its  liquid  song,  and  the  wind-bells  on 
the  eaves  tinkled  musically  back  and 
forth  in  a  faint  breeze,  as  if  in  unison 
with  the  song  of  the  wood-bird. 

From  across  the  mountains  came 
the  gentle  booming  of  the  temple 
bells,  telling  the  hour  of  the  night, 
and,  as  if  they  were  a  signal  listened 
for,  the  fox-woman  crept  out  of  the 
103 


TAMA 

dense  bamboo  grove  and  felt  her  way 
among  the  shadows  till  she  came 
to  the  brink  of  the  castle  moat. 
Along  its  edge  she  wended  her  fleet, 
cautious  way,  till  she  came  to  a  nar 
row  wing,  and  over  this  she  stepped 
silently.  In  the  vague  light  of  the 
moon,  she  seemed  indeed  a  wraith, 
in  her  clinging  gown  of  white,  en 
shrouded  in  the  wild  veil  of  her  hair. 
On  and  on  she  moved,  as  though  she 
travelled  over  known  and  familiar 
paths. 

Suddenly,  piercingly,  in  the  still 
moonlight  sounded  the  cry  of  the 
fox -woman,  and,  as  suddenly,  a  si 
lence  fell,  still  as  death  itself.  It  was 
as  if  every  living  thing  had  paused  to 
listen  to  that  appealing  cry  of  agony 
and  terror. 

Silence !  No  one  stirring.  No  one 
breathing. 

Then,  as  if  brought  violently  into 
104 


TAMA 

life,  the  Tojin-san  bounded  to  his 
feet,  and  in  the  light  of  the  swinging 
takahiras,  for  a  moment  his  great 
form  loomed  up  menacingly.  From 
all  parts  of  the  estate  now  came 
the  sound  of  movement,  and  he  saw 
the  samourai  guard,  their  gleaming 
swords  drawn  fully  and  flashing  eerily 
in  the  moonlight,  charge  down  blindly 
in  the  direction  of  the  cry.  Within 
the  woods  came  the  sound  of  battle, 
the  rumble  of  men's  savage,  tri 
umphant  voices  —  a  wild  stirring 
and  crying,  and  then  again  —  the 
silence! 

Presently  from  out  the  brush  they 
came,  bearing  their  burden — stalwart 
men  of  war,  all  with  their  hands  upon 
her.  Out  along  the  whitewashed 
paths,  across  the  green-clipped  lawns 
and  through  the  garden  of  fragrant, 
blowing  flowers  they  carried  the  fox- 
woman  into  the  cherry-petalled  cham- 
8  105 


TAMA 

her  of  the  Tojin-san.  There  they  set 
her  down,  still  entangled,  like  a  wild 
beast  of  the  woods,  in  the  net  they 
had  made  to  snare  her. 

Unmoving  she  lay,  as  one  indeed 
in  whom  life  was  extinct;  but  when 
the  Tojin-san  moved  with  an  impulse 
of  passionate  yearning  toward  her, 
the  boy  Junzo,  who  loved  him,  sprang 
in  his  path. 

"Touch  her  not,  beloved  sensei! 
She  is  accursed,  unclean!" 

He  put  the  boy  roughly,  savagely 
aside,  and  in  a  moment  was  kneeling 
above  her.  It  was  the  task  of  a 
minute  to  cut  free  the  bonds  that 
bound  her.  Still  she  did  not  move. 
With  hands  that  trembled  in  spite  of 
themselves,  gently,  softly,  he  put 
back  from  her  face  the  glittering 
veil  of  her  hair,  and  as  he  did  so  his 
heart  came  up  in  his  throat  in  a  great, 
suffocating  bound  —  for  the  face  he 
106 


TOUCH      HER     NOT.     BELOVED     SENSEI!        SHE      IS     ACCURSED,     UNCLEAN!" 


TAMA 

uncovered  was  that  of  a  white  wo-     v 
man! 

So  perfect,  so  exquisite  the  small, 
sensitive  face,  he  could  only  gaze 
upon  it  spell-bound.  The  great  pur 
ple  eyes,  wide  open,  and  shadowed 
with  their  long,  gilded  lashes;  the 
thin  little  nose ;  the  lips  red  as  a  new 
blown  rose,  and  as  sweet! — and  crown 
ing  it  all,  the  golden  glory  of  her 
hair. 

In  this  land  where  only  the  brown 
face  and  densely  black  hair  and  eyes 
had  been  known  for  centuries,  was  it 
strange  that  this  creature  of  the 
mountains  seemed  as  of  another 
world — a  sprite  indeed.  This  perse 
cuted,  hunted  creature,  whom  they 
had  trapped  with  ropes,  as  the  hunter 
does  the  wild  animals  of  the  forests; 
this  fragile,  trembling,  quivering  little 
child — of  his  own  skin  and  blood — 
this  was  the  fox-woman! 
107 


TAMA 

She  spoke  not  at  all,  though  her 
wide-open  eyes  never  moved  from 
the  Tojin's  face.  Something  in  their 
glassy  stare,  their  curious  look  as  of 
a  mist  before  them,  brought  an 
exclamation  to  his  lips.  He  bent 
nearer  to  her,  looked  deeply,  keenly 
into  those  unflickering  eyes,  and  an 
imprecation  swept  his  lips. 

"And  blind!   My  God!"  he  cried. 

As  if  his  voice  had  moved  her 
spirit  into  a  sudden  life,  the  fox- 
woman  stirred  soundlessly  as  a  cat 
would  have  done.  Suddenly  she  leap 
ed  blindly  in  the  face  of  the  Tojin.  He 
stood  unmoving,  a  great  stolid  wall 
against  which  she  might  hurl  her 
puny  strength  in  vain. 

Presently,  gasping,  exhausted,  she 
drew  backward,  her  fluttering  hands 
crushed  upon  her  heart  as  if  to  stop 
its  frantic  beating.  A  sound  that 
had  the  vaguest,  most  piteous  of 
1 08 


TAMA 

human  notes  came  from  the  fox- 
woman's  lips,  and  suddenly,  with  the 
motion  of  a  lost  child  in  despair, 
she  buried  her  face  in  the  fragile 
shelter  of  her  hands. 


XI 

SHE  was  the  daughter  of  the 
damyuraisu  (foreign  sailor)  and  of 
the  Nii-no-ama  (Noble  Nun  of  second 
rank).  Bit  by  bit  he  drew  forth  her 
history  from  the  students,  who  re 
mained  with  him  throughout  the 
night.  There  was  little  enough  they 
could  tell  him,  beyond  the  fact  of  her 
parentage.  Her  father  had  betrayed 
his  friend  and  benefactor,  an  Echizen 
prince;  her  mother  had  broken  her 
vows  to  the  Lord  Buddha.  And  the 
creature  herself!  Now  the  Tojin-san 
could  see  for  himself  that  the  tales 
told  about  her  were  by  no  means 
chimerical. 

She  was  free  to  go,  for  he  had  cut 
no 


TAMA 

the  ropes  that  bound  her.  Though 
blind,  she  could  have  found  any 
exit  of  the  chamber  unaided.  She 
made  not  the  slightest  move  to  go. 
Crouched  back  there  against  the 
farthest  wall  she  stayed,  with  her 
wild  flushed  face  peering  out  from 
between  her  parted  hair,  the  eyes  wide 
open,  unblinking,  scarcely  moving. 
If  she  understood  what  they  spoke, 
she  made  no  sign;  yet  her  face  had 
a  strained,  listening  look — as  though 
she  heard  strange  sounds  that  both 
baffled  and  troubled  her. 

The  dawn  crept  into  the  chamber, 
murky  and  sunless,  and  found  them 
still  there  on  guard  as  it  were,  with 
the  distance  of  almost  the  entire 
room  between  them  and  the  fox-wom 
an,  but  watching  her  with  unabated 
emotion.  It  was  the  Tojin-san  who  at 
last  approached  her.  She  sensed  his 
coming  and  shrank  back  farther,  if 
in 


TAMA 

that  were  possible  against  the  wall. 
Now  he  stood  directly  before  her, 
studying  her  in  a  profound  silence. 

Slowly,  cautiously  she  raised  her 
self  to  her  knees,  and  then  to  her 
feet.  Now  she  stood  fairly  facing  him, 
her  back  against  the  wall.  A  thin, 
searching  little  hand  felt  blindly  be 
fore  her,  touched  him.  With  a  quick, 
animated  movement  her  fingers  now 
flew  from  his  hand,  up  along  his  arm 
and  shoulder,  paused  upon  his  pitted 
cheek,  moved  to  his  lips  and  rested 
there,  soft  as  a  feather,  fragrant  as  a 
flower. 

Never  in  all  the  days  of  his  life  had 
he  looked  upon  such  a  face  as  hers. 
Every  quivering,  sensitive  feature 
seemed  alive  with  the  quickened, 
subtle  sense  of  the  blind.  Even  the 
little  feeling  fingers,  how  mortally 
alive  they  were,  as  they  swept  with 
their  light,  electrical  touch  across  him ! 

112 


TAMA 

When  he  put  his  great,  firm  hands 
upon  her  shoulders,  he  felt  the  shock, 
the  startling  tremble  that  agitated 
her.  She  stood  poised  for  flight, 
uncertain,  fearful,  with  the  wild  de 
fiance  of  her  nature  only  in  part 
checked ;  but  as  his  deep,  compassion 
ate  voice  addressed  her,  she  became 
gradually  passive  and  very  still. 

"You  may  not  understand  my 
words,"  he  said,  "but  you  will  their 
meaning.  I  want  to  help  you.  I  am 
your  friend." 

Her  eyes  became  curiously  blue, 
and  the  misty  look  faded  like  a 
shadow  from  their  depths.  Across 
the  tremulous,  scarlet  lips  a  smile 
crept  like  the  dawn.  She  moved  a 
step  nearer  to  him,  and  as  he  regarded 
her,  fascinated,  thrilled,  the  student, 
Junzo,  broke  the  spell  of  silence.  He 
had  thrust  himself  forward  with  an 
impetuous,  imploring  motion. 


TAMA 

"  Sense! ! — honored  sir,  teacher — !" 

She  turned  her  head  craftily  in  the 

direction  of  the  new  voice,  then  slowly 

back  to  the  Tojin-san.    There  was  a 

low,  accusing  note  in  her  voice : 

"To-o-jin-san!  Thou  too !"  she  said. 


XII 

THE  Palace  Matsuhaira,  wherein 
the  courteous  Prince  of  Echizen  had 
housed  the  foreign  teacher,  had  lost 
all  but  two  of  its  tenants.  The  odor 
ous  kitchens  where  but  lately  the 
army  of  servants  had  happily  and 
noisily  labored  were  now  quite  empty. 
So  were  the  vast,  cool  halls,  and  the 
great,  bare  chambers.  Like  an  army 
of  rats,  one  and  all,  they  had  deserted 
the  place,  leaving  the  Tojin-san  alone, 
save  for  that  unseen  one,  who  alter 
natively  teased  and  entreated  him. 

Even  the  faithful  students,  who 
had  brought  about  her  capture,  had 
ceased  to  visit  the  Shiro,  having 
vainly  implored  the  Tojin-san  to 


TAMA 

abandon  the  place.  With  a  grim 
and  stubborn  patience,  he  kept  dog 
gedly  to  the  course  he  had  set  him 
self. 

All  over  the  house  he  found  traces 
of  her.  Now  she  had  slept  in  this 
chamber,  now  in  that.  Here  she  had 
prepared  her  diminutive,  stolen  meal 
of  fruit,  honey,  and  rice. 

He  was  aware  of  her  constant 
nearness,  and  had  he  so  desired,  at 
almost  any  moment,  he  could  have 
again  seen  her;  but  he  was  taking  a 
more  subtle  means  this  time  to  en 
trap  her.  She  must  come  forth  of 
her  own  free  will;  then  he  would 
know  he  had  her  confidence,  that 
she  knew  him  for  a  friend.  He  found 
himself  talking  to  her,  sometimes 
sternly,  in  the  chiding,  coaxing  tone 
one  uses  to  a  child.  He  would  move 
from  screen  to  screen  as  he  talked, 
until  he  knew  behind  which  one  she 
116 


TAMA 

pressed;  but  he  made  no  effort  to 
force  her  from  her  hiding-place. 

Never  a  word  would  she  speak  in 
response  until  he  was  seated  far  re 
moved  from  the  sheltering  screens, 
then  she  would  begin  reiterating  the 
one  appealing,  accusing  sentence: 

"Tojin-san,  thou  too!  thou  too!" 

It  was  as  if  she  knew  no  other  words 
of  her  father's  language.  He  pon 
dered  their  meaning.  What  was  it 
she  asked  of  him?  Of  what  accused 
and  reproached  him?  Did  she  hold 
him  responsible  for  the  manner  of 
her  capture — its  cruelty  ?  He  told  her 
in  slow,  forceful  words  that  he  had 
known  nothing  of  this,  and  waited 
in  anxiety  for  some  word  or  sound 
from  her  to  indicate  that  at  least  she 
understood.  She  only  laughed,  that 
soft,  mocking,  tremulous  little  laugh 
with  its  inner  sound  of  tears. 

The  burning,  humid  days  of  June 
117 


TAMA 

slipped  by  on  drowsy  wing.  School 
was  closed  for  the  season,  and  the 
foreign  sensei  was  at  liberty  to  travel 
if  he  wished  upon  his  vacation.  The 
samourai  body  -  guard  were  anxious 
to  attend  him  upon  any  expedition 
that  would  take  them  away  from  the 
Shiro.  Genji  Negato  was  available, 
outside  the  place.  Every  cringing, 
fearful,  cowardly  servant,  who  still 
drew  wages  from  the  Daimio's  high 
officer,  was  anxious  again  to  serve 
him.  They  made  up  deputations 
and  committees,  which  fearfully  ap 
proached  the  mansion,  and  threw 
their  messages  in  little  balls  that 
pelted  against  the  paper  summer 
walls  of  the  shoji  and  pierced  their 
way  into  the  Tojin-san's  apartment. 
And  still  not  once  did  he  venture 
forth. 

Every  sliding  door  and  screen  he 
had  himself  put  in  place.     He  did  not 
118 


TAMA 

venture  outside  the  house,  even  to 
step  into  the  grounds.  And  a  strange 
restless  rumor  began  to  float  about 
the  little  town  below,  which  told  of 
the  spell  which  chained  the  white 
man. 

Meanwhile  within  the  mansion  it 
self,  the  Tojin-san  was  winning  a 
strange  victory.  Timidly,  like  a  fas 
cinated  wild  bird,  now  approaching, 
now  retreating,  nearer  and  yet  nearer, 
had  come  the  fox-woman.  There 
came  a  day  when,  though  he  did  not 
turn  to  look  at  her,  fearing  instantly 
to  lose  her,  she  stood  at  last  revealed. 
Only  a  few  paces  from  him,  there  of 
her  own  free  will,  timorous,  trembling, 
but  unafraid. 

Her  name  was  Tama  (Jewel).  She 
told  it  to  him  voluntarily,  her  hand 
upon  her  breast.  He  had  not  even 
asked  her,  nor  did  he  by  the  slightest 
motion  reveal  the  eager  emotion  her 
119 


T  A  M  A 

words  aroused  when  he  found  they 
were  spoken  in  his  own  tongue. 
Haltingly,  uncertainly,  like  a  child 
for  the  first  time  feeling  for  its  words, 
she  essayed  to  speak. 

"I  am  Tama,"  softly  she  said,  and 
then,  as  if  enchanted  by  her  ability 
to  speak  actual  words  to  one  who 
might  hear  and  understand,  she 
lapsed  into  excited,  trembling  speech, 
wholly  unintelligible  to  the  Tojin-san, 
for  it  was  a  medley  of  both  her 
father  and  her  mother  tongue,  nei 
ther  of  which  she  could  properly 
speak. 

Suddenly  she  stopped  abruptly,  as 
if  affrighted  by  her  own  bravado, 
and  her  fears  again  besetting  her 
panically  she  retreated  behind  the 
screens.  For  the  rest  of  that  day, 
as  least,  he  saw  nothing  further  of 
her.  But  he  was  well  pleased  with 
matters  as  they  were.  It  was  worth 
1 20 


TAMA 

waiting  for  this,  he  told  himself.  As 
he  paced  his  chamber,  he  made  no 
effort  to  curb  the  exhilarating  excite 
ment  that  pervaded  his  whole  being. 

9 


XIII 

Two  days  later  she  again  came 
forth  from  her  hiding-place.  He  had 
been  aware  of  her  hovering  nearness 
all  through  the  morning,  but  made 
no  effort  to  induce  her  to  come  to 
him.  One  may  entrap  a  wild  bird; 
one  cannot  make  it  sing.  He  knew 
the  course  he  was  taking  with  her 
was  right;  he  was  exuberantly,  boy 
ishly  happy  at  its  evident  success. 

Shyly,  trustingly,  of  her  own  free 
will,  again  she  had  come  to  him.  On 
the  sensitive  questioning  face  there 
was  scarcely  a  trace  of  the  wild, 
impish  defiance  that  had  seemed  on 
that  first  day  its  only  expression. 
She  even  smiled  tentatively,  pleading- 

122 


TAMA 

ly,  as  though  she  sought  in  this  wise 
to  win  his  approval.  He  spoke  to 
her  quietly,  as  though  her  presence 
there  were  but  natural: 

"Won't  you  be  seated?"  he  said. 

She  hesitated  a  moment,  sat  a 
moment,  rose  to  her  knees  uncer 
tainly,  and  gradually  subsided  to  the 
mat.  Her  face  was  down -drooped, 
the  little  white  hands  folded  meekly 
in  her  lap. 

"You  are  not  Japanese,"  said  the 
Tojin-san,  gently.  It  was  a  simple, 
clear  statement.  If  she  understood 
anything  of  his  language,  it  would  be 
plain  to  her  what  he  meant.  A  mar 
vellous  flush  spread  over  her  eager 
little  face.  The  humid,  misty  eyes 
were  clear  as  blue-bells  now.  A 
sound  like  an  excited  sob,  half  laugh, 
escaped  her. 

' '  Nipponese  ?"  she  said.  ' '  No — me  ? 
I  am — To-o-jin-san!" 
123 


TAMA 

Her  hands  went  out  to  him  in  a 
sudden  impulsive  motion.  She  moved 
on  her  knees  nearer  to  him. 

"Ah,"  she  cried,  "speag  those 
words  of  my  father!  Thas — beauti 
ful!" 

He  was  deeply  moved,  and  took 
the  little  hands  closely  in  his  own. 
They  were  soft  and  small,  clinging 
and  confiding  as  a  child's.  How  they 
trembled  and  fluttered  at  first;  then 
rested  still,  as  if  with  a  joyous  new 
confidence. 

He  could  not  bear  to  look  at  her 
beseeching  face.  In  all  the  days  of 
her  life  he  knew  he  was  the  first  she 
had  not  held  at  bay.  She  knew 
mankind  only  as  creatures  of  prey. 
Was  this  the  mocking  sprite  of  the 
mountains,  who  even  when  entangled 
in  the  ropes  of  the  hunter  had  fought 
so  desperately,  so  savagely?  What 
could  he  say  to  her,  what  words  of 
124 


TAMA 

assurance  that  would  penetrate  her 
full  understanding?  As  he  pondered 
the  matter,  he  saw  the  startled  change 
that  swept  suddenly  across  her  face. 
The  hands  in  his  own  grew  tense, 
rigid,  clung  to  his  own  in  a  passionate 
frenzy  of  fear. 

"You  are  afraid  of  something? 
What  is  it?" 

The  old  hunted,  listening  look  was 
upon  her  face  again.  She  was  shiver 
ing,  trembling  violently.  Her  voice 
came  in  a  whispering  gasp: 

"I  hear — those  sound!"  she  said, 
her  head  uplifted. 

Only  a  lazy  breeze  was  stirring,  and 
moving  the  wind  -  bells  to  and  fro. 
Suddenly  he  saw  the  silhouetted 
shadow  on  the  shoji  wall.  It  moved 
silently,  cautiously.  Then  the  screens 
were  slid  soundlessly  open,  and  the 
student  Junzo  appeared.  For  a  mo 
ment  he  remained  staring  down  upon 
125 


TAMA 

them,  his  young  face  becoming  gray 
and  stern. 

' '  Sensei !  Then  it  is  true !"  he  burst 
out,  and  the  look  of  despair  on  his 
face  deepened. 

The  Tojin-san  arose  to  his  full  gigan 
tic  height.  His  hand  fell  like  a  heavy 
weight  upon  the  shoulder  of  the  youth. 
His  voice  was  rough,  commanding. 

"Look  at  this  child,  Takemoto 
Junzo.  What  is  there  you  see  in  her 
to  fear — to  hate?" 

"Ah,  you,  beloved  sensei,"  cried 
the  boy  passionately,  "are  bewitched, 
enchanted.  Do  I  not  see  with  my 
honorable  eyes  the  change  that  has 
befallen  you  ?  It  is  spoken  of  all  over 
Fukui  that  you  are  in  the  toils  of 
this  siren.  I  could  not  longer  bear  it, 
and,  against  my  honorable  parent's 
stern  command,  I  came  here  to  see 
for  myself.  Alas,  it  is  too  true!  You 
are  bewitched,  obsessed!" 
126 


TAMA 

The  Tojin-san  curbed  his  temper. 
His  voice,  though  stern,  was  calm, 
as  though  he  sought  to  humor  the 
boy. 

"What  is  the  change  you  observe 
in  me  then?" 

"Your  eyes  are  weak  and  soft  like 
the  dove's.  There  is  a  melting,  ten 
der  look  unfit  for  man  upon  your 
face.  Your  voice  is  gentle,  like  unto 
a  woman's.  It  is  as  if — as  if — the 
enamored  weakness  of  a  love  pos 
sessed  you!" 

"A  love!"  repeated  the  Tojin-san, 
as  though  the  very  word  were  new 
to  him.  Suddenly  a  look  of  anguish 
came  into  his  face,  giving  it  a  poig 
nant,  withering  expression. 

The  fox-woman  had  crept  softly 
across  the  room.  Now  she  leaned 
upon  the  farthest  shoji,  her  head 
lifted  in  a  dreaming  trance. 

"Leave  this  accursed  place  with 
127 


TAMA 

me  to-day,"  urged  the  boy  entreat- 
ingly.  "My  honorable  father  will 
gladly  receive  you  as  our  honored 
guest.  Throw  off  the  burden  of  this 
foul  witch  of  the  mountains.  She  can 
only  soil  your  excellency,  and  Fukui 
is  prepared  to  mete  out  to  her  at  last 
her  proper  fate." 

"I  am  a  white  man,"  said  the 
Tojin-san  slowly,  in  a  deadly  voice, 
and  never  had  his  student  seen  such 
an  expression  upon  his  face  before. 
"As  such  I  protect,  not  abandon,  the 
women  of  my  race.  It  will  not  be 
well  for  Fukui  if  harm  comes  to  either 
me,  your  guest  and  teacher,  or  to  her, 
whom  I  choose  to  befriend." 

"Sayonara,  then,  excellent  sensei," 
said  the  boy  brokenly,  "I  have  done 
my  best." 

As  he  pushed  back  the  doors,  the 
fox-woman  glided  soundlessly  across 
his  path.  The  boy  found  himself 
128 


TAMA 

looking  directly  into  that  shining 
face  that  had  distracted  all  who  had 
gazed  upon  it.  Breathing  heavily, 
almost  as  if  he  sobbed,  he  drew  back 
ward  from  her,  his  young  face  drawn 
and  shaken.  She  spoke  not  at  all, 
though  she  touched  him  with  a  timid, 
questioning  hand.  Something  in  the 
expression  of  the  upturned  face,  in 
the  tears  that  stood  like  dew  in  the 
wide,  sightless  eyes,  aroused  a  new 
strangling  emotion  in  the  Japanese 
youth — reached  at  last  his  innermost 
sense  of  chivalry.  He  threw  up  his 
arm,  with  a  sudden  motion  almost  as 
of  defense.  Then,  without  a  word 
or  look  backward,  he  jumped  into  the 
garden  below,  and  fled  along  its  paths. 


XIV 

THE  days  stole  by  with  light  tread. 
Without  the  Shiro  Matsuhaira  events 
of  great  national  import  were  taking 
place.  Fukui  was  disrupted,  torn  by 
the  new  tide  of  events  that  was  to 
alter  its  destiny,  for  the  Yaku  doshi 
(evil  years)  were  again  upon  them. 

No  longer  were  the  provinces  to  be 
ruled  by  individual  princes,  for  one 
and  all  had  come  under  the  dominion 
of  the  Emperor. 

People  were  packing  their  house 
hold  goods  in  haste  and  wending  their 
ambitious  ways  toward  the  greater 
cities.  In  a  single  month  Fukui  lost 
half  its  population,  and  those  left 
behind  seemed  to  move  about  the 
130 


TAMA 

affairs  of  life  as  if  in  a  dream,  from 
which  presently  they  would  awake. 

Thus  the  political  upheaval  served 
for  a  time,  at  least,  to  distract  the 
people's  mind  from  the  Tojin  and  the 
fox- woman.  It  was  but  a  temporary 
distraction.  A  whispering,  sinister 
voice  was  at  work.  It  ran  in  and  out 
the  houses  of  Fukui,  and  breathed  its 
suggestive  message  to  the  disaffected, 
impoverished  ones,  and  pointed  out 
the  cause  of  the  calamity  that  had 
befallen  them;  for  so  sudden  and 
drastic  a  change  of  government  was 
bound  to  react  disastrously  upon  the 
people  at  first,  no  matter  how  for 
tunate  its  ultimate  end.  The  people 
of  Fukui,  like  those  of  other  feudal 
strongholds,  were  at  present  feeling 
only  the  first  blighting,  threatening 
touch  of  coming  poverty. 

For  hundreds  of  years  the  samourai 
and  their  families  had  been  dependent 


TAMA 

aristocrats,  who  shared  the  rich  for 
tunes  of  their  lords.  Now  they  found 
themselves  suddenly  thrust  out  of 
service;  in  the  same  position  as  the 
despised  merchant  or  farmer,  forced 
to  seek  employment  no  matter  how 
repugnant  or  menial.  Many  of  them 
chose  what  they  considered  the  no 
blest  and  most  heroic  solution  of  the 
problem — suppuku!  The  entire  de 
struction  of  themselves  and  families. 
Many  sought  the  larger  cities  intent 
on  obtaining  lucrative  positions  under 
the  new  government;  many  families 
were  reduced  to  the  direst  poverty, 
and  became  dependents  upon  their 
own  servants  and  tradespeople. 

Fukui  had  known  the  noblest  of 
princes,  and  it  was  with  a  feeling  of 
despairing  confidence  that  the  people 
awaited  his  return  from  Tokio.  He 
was  high  in  the  councils  of  the  Im 
perial  Government.  He  could  and 
132 


TAMA 

would  —  he  must  do  much  to  save 
his  beloved  province  from  disaster. 
So  they  waited  patiently,  helplessly. 
Hope  is  at  best  but  the  comforter  of 
despair,  and  as  the  days  passed 
drearily  by  a  new  feeling  took  its 
place. 

A  sullen,  rebellious  hatred  for  the 
white  nations  who  had  brought  this 
new  state  of  affairs  about — a  murder 
ous,  resentful  impulse  of  revenge.  It 
was  the  same  feeling  that  had  ani 
mated  the  misguided  patriots  of 
Satsuma,  when  they  fought  the  allied 
fleet  at  Kagoshima,  but  it  was  uglier, 
meaner,  for  its  force  was  directed 
upon  two  individuals,  who,  to  the 
Fukui  mind,  represented  the  detested 
nations  of  the  West.  One  of  these, 
so  Fukui  firmly  believed,  was  directly 
responsible  for  the  disaster.  She,  the 
accursed  outcast,  who  had  descended 
from  the  mountains  and  taken  up  her 


TAMA 

abode  in  their  very  midst;  who  had 
laid  her  spell  upon  the  great  Tojin- 
san,  who  had  been  their  friend! 

Many  a  samourai's  itching  hand 
crept  stealthily  to  the  forbidden 
sword,  for,  by  the  new  law,  they  were 
not  permitted  to  wear  the  sword,  as 
he  measured  his  misfortunes  through 
the  blighting  nearness  of  the  fox- 
woman.  Many  a  distracted  mother 
crooned  a  promise  to  her  sleeping 
babe  that  the  dread  gagama  (goblin) 
of  Atago  Yama  that  had  menaced 
them  for  so  long  was  at  last  to  be  ex 
tinguished. 

And  meanwhile,  in  the  Shiro  Mat- 
suhaira,  another  kind  of  dream  was 
unfolding  its  rose-lined  wings. 


XV 

"To  what  are  you  listening, 
Tama?" 

He  had  come  upon  her  pressed 
closely  against  a  latticed  screen, 
whose  opening  looked  out  upon  the 
river  leading  to  the  city  below. 

She  started  at  his  coming,  and 
turned  toward  him,  her  back  against 
the  screen. 

"I  listen  to  the  noise  of  thad 
river,"  she  said,  and  there  was  a  con 
ciliating,  pleading  note  in  her  voice. 

"You  cannot  hear  the  river  from 
here.  It  is  very  shallow — barely  stirs. 
There  is  something  else  you  are  list 
ening  to?" 

"It  is  the  uguisu,"  she  said  quickly, 


TAMA 

as  though  she  sought  to  disarm  his 
fears.  ' '  It  no  longer  sings,  Tojin-san. 
I  listen  for  hees  voice  again." 

"It  never  sang,  my  child,  save  at 
night.  What  is  it  that  troubles  you  ? 
You  seem  always  to  be  listening, 
waiting — so  fearfully — so  anxiously. 
You  are  afraid  of  something.  Tell  me 
what  it  is  ?' 

His  deep,  lowered  voice  was  as 
caressing  and  tender  as  a  mother's. 
She  faltered,  turned  from  him.  Her 
voice  overran  with  vague  sighs. 

"I  hear  even  those  mos'  sof  of  hon 
orable  whisper.     I  hear  some  noise  of 
—  trobble!    I  am  afraid  —  for  you  — 
kind  Tojin-san." 

"For  me!  I  am  amply  protected 
here  in  Fukui.  I  have  a  body-guard 
of  samourai,  besides  Genji  Negato, 
who  will  come  back  quickly  enough 
when  he  has  mastered  his  foolish 
fears." 

136 


TAMA 

"The  samourai  gone,"  she  said, 
simply. 

He  was  silent  a  moment,  realizing 
there  was  nothing  to  be  gained  by 
attempting  to  deceive  her.  How, 
when  or  where  she  learned  of  these 
matters  he  never  knew ;  but  she  knew 
perhaps  more  than  he  did  of  what 
was  happening  in  Fukui. 

"Even  if  it  is  so,"  he  finally  said, 
"and  the  samourai  too  are  gone,  you 
have  nothing  to  fear.  Less  than  a 
week  ago  a  courier  brought  word  to 
me  from  Tokio.  I  am  expecting 
friends  in  Fukui  very  shortly  now." 

"Frien?"  she  repeated  wistfully. 
"Like  unto  you,  kind  Tojin-san?" 

"Yes — white  men,  and  Japanese, 
too,  for  that  matter.  I  have  good 
friends  in  Tokio.  They  are  coming 
here  to  see  you,  my  child." 

"Alas!"  she  said,  shrinking  slightly 
from  him,  "Why  do  they  come  ?" 
10  137 


TAMA 

"I  asked  them  to  come,"  he  said, 
very  gravely.  "I  feel  I  am  right, 
and  that  by  a  simple  operation  we 
will  be  able  to  make  you  see,  as  other 
people  do,  my  child." 

The  word  appeared  to  trouble  her. 

"I  see  already,  Tojin-san,"  she 
said. 

"What  do  you  see,  Tama?"  he 
asked  her  huskily. 

The  words  came  floodingly,  tumult- 
uously  to  her  lips.  The  misty  eyes 
were  blue  as  the  sea  and  as  beautiful. 

"I  see  thee,  Tojin-san.  Thou  art 
beautiful  ad  my  sight,  lig'  unto  the 
gods." 

A  look  of  suffering  left  its  mark 
upon  the  face  of  the  Tojin.  He  gazed 
at  the  kindling  face  of  the  girl  before 
him,  and  the  old  strangling,  yearning 
emotion  swept  over  him. 

"Give  me  more  sight — if  it  is  your 
honorable  wish,"  she  said,  "bud 
138 


TAMA 

already  I  see — I  know!"  She  pressed 
her  fingers  impetuously  to  her  eyes. 

"I  see  the  light — the  dark.  It  is 
a  worl'  of  shadows  on  my  eyes,  and 
shadows  are  lig'  unto  our  dream— 
mos'  beautiful  of  all!" 

His  voice  was  firm,  almost  solemn. 

' '  You  have  been  wandering  around 
in  a  black  wilderness  all  of  your  life; 
you  do  not  know  what  it  is,  my  poor 
little  one,  to  see  the  sun!  But,  with 
God's  good  help,  I  am  going  to  lead 
you  out  of  the  wilderness — into  the 
light!" 

"You  are  the  light!"  she  said, 
throbbingly,  and  slipped  to  her  knees, 
putting  her  face  against  his  hand. 

Something  bounded  against  the 
wall  and  came  whistling  through  the 
shoji.  It  grazed  the  cheek  of  the 
kneeling  fox -woman,  and  imbedded 
itself  against  the  woodwork  of  the 
opposite  wall.  She  put  up  her  hand 


TAMA 

with  a  quick,  startled  movement,  but 
though  she  turned  a  questioning, 
fearful  face  upon  the  great  Tojin, 
she  could  not  see  how  deathly  white 
he  had  become.  He  bent  suddenly 
above  her. 

"Make  me  a  promise.  Repeat 
after  me,  that  no  matter  what  might 
befall  us,  you  will  remain  with  me — 
you  will  not  desert  me!" 

With  her  face  pressed  against  his 
hand,  her  eyes  fervently  closed,  she 
repeated  the  words  as  a  veritable 
prayer. 


XVI 

IN  the  sunken  garden  directly  be 
neath  his  rooms  he  saw  that  sinister 
thing  below,  waiting  in  a  throbbing 
silence.  It  seemed  as  if  his  gardens 
were  alive  with  them.  Who  had 
summoned  them?  For  what  were 
they  waiting? 

From  his  elevation  above  them  he 
spoke,  his  clear  voice  booming  out 
above  their  heads. 

"Genji  Negate,  I  desire  your  ser 
vices." 

From  somewhere  in  the  shadows 
the  voice  of  the  interpreter  came  back 
at  him  like  a  cold  slap  in  the  face. 

"When  the  evil  spirit  of  Atago 
Yama  shall  have  left  the  abode  of  the 
141 


TAMA 

exalted  Tojin-san,  Genji  Negate  will 
humbly  return  for  service." 

The  Tojin-san's  incisive,  perfectly 
controlled  voice  continued  coldly: 

"By  command  of  the  Prince  of 
Echizen  you  are  in  my  service.  In 
his  name,  I  order  you  to  control 
your  foolish  fears,  or  take  the  con 
sequences  of  your  Prince's  displeas 
ure." 

A  strange  voice,  rumbling,  sneering, 
responded  to  this  statement.  Like 
a  flash,  upon  the  retort,  came  the 
Tojin's  ringing  order  to  the  inter 
preter: 

"Translate  the  words  just  spoken, 
if  you  please." 

"He  says,  your  excellency,  that  the 
Prince  of  Echizen  has  been  summarily 
called  to  Tokio.  If  the  new  law  is 
indeed  enforced  he  may  not  re 
turn." 

For  a  moment  the  far-seeing  mind 
142 


TAMA 

of  the  Tojin  staggered  before  this 
appalling  news,  which,  if  true,  meant 
the  possibility  of  his  being  suddenly 
cast  adrift  and  left  to  protect  himself 
from  the  Jo-i  menace,  against  which 
Echizen  himself  had  taken  such  pre 
cautions  in  his  behalf.  While  his 
mind  revolved  all  the  possible  perils 
of  his  position,  a  new  voice  sprang 
ringingly  out  of  the  shadows  of  his 
garden — a  boy's  clear,  unfaltering 
voice  with  its  reassuring  note  of 
loyalty  and  affection. 

"Beloved  sensei,  we,  your  students, 
offer  ourselves  in  place  of  your  guard." 

"What  may  babes  know  of  a 
sword's  honor?"  snarled  the  samou- 
rai,  who  had  already  spoken.  ' '  Upon 
what  strength  may  the  foreign  devil 
lean  for  his  new  support?"  he  de 
manded  with  cutting  sarcasm. 

The  burly  laugh  that  followed  was 
suddenly  stopped,  as  the  student 
143 


TAMA 

Higo  flung  himself  defiantly  before 
them  all. 

"I,  Higo,  kin  of  your  absent  Prince, 
will  answer  you.  There  are  nine 
hundred  students,  samourai  them 
selves,  and  sons  of  a  thousand  sam 
ourai  before  them.  All  of  these  are 
loyal  to  our  teacher.  They  will  pro 
tect  and  fight  for  him,  if  necessary." 

Now  the  answering  voice  snarled 
merely  in  explanation. 

"Who  spoke  of  harm  to  your 
sensei?  It  is  not  him  we  seek.  We 
have  come  for  the  Fox -Woman  of 
Atago  Yama,  who  blights  our  fort 
unes,  who  brings  sickness,  poverty, 
and  disaster  upon  our  ancestors  and 
our  children,  and  whose  doom  has 
been  spoken  by  Fukui.  You  have 
trapped  her,  young  sirs  of  the  college, 
like  any  other  female  beast  of  the 
woods.  Let  older,  more  experienced 
hands  finish  your  honorable  work. 
144 


TAMA 

There  are  those  of  us  whose  hands 
performed  a  like  service  upon  the 
debased  parents  of  the  gagama,  and 
whose  palms  itch  now  to  mingle  her 
blood  with  her  sire's.  Let  but  the 
Tojin-san  eject  this  siren  of  the  moun 
tains,  and  we  will  be  satisfied." 

"It  cannot  be  done,"  frantically 
cried  the  boy  Junzo.  "I  myself  have 
touched  the  wretched,  helpless  one, 
and,  as  the  gods  in  heaven  hear  me, 
she  is  but — human,  as  ourselves!" 

A  roar  of  derision  greeted  the  boy's 
passionate  outcry,  and  there  was  a 
concerted  movement  toward  where 
the  Tojin-san  stood  towering  above 
them,  his  arms  crossed,  his  keen, 
stern  eyes  regarding  them  piercingly. 

Some  one  pushed  forward  the  in 
terpreter,  and  the  craven,  agitated  fel 
low  now  faced  his  master.  He  made 
several  ineffectual  efforts  to  speak, 
gulped  at  the  lump  which  rose  per- 


TAMA 

sistently  in  his  throat.  Before  him 
loomed  the  grim,  sardonic  face  of  this 
west  -  countryman  he  had  always  in 
wardly  feared  and  respected;  behind 
him  the  rabble  of  dissatisfied  ronin. 

Gasping,  trembling,  he  repeated  to 
the  Tojin  the  verdict  of  the  mob. 
They  called  upon  him  to  deliver  into 
their  hands  the  fox-woman.  Failing 
to  do  that,  they  would  storm  the  Shiro 
and  take  her  by  force.  Whiningly, 
pleadingly,  he  begged  his  master  to 
hurl  from  his  house  the  wretched 
spirit  he  was  harboring. 

To  this  demand  the  Tojin-san  re 
turned  slowly,  as  though  he  carefully 
chose  his  words,  that  if  one  hair  upon 
the  head  of  the  one  he  protected  were 
touched,  the  whole  Fukui  should 
feel  a  vengeance  such  as  never  had 
befallen  it  before.  He,  the  Tojin-san 
— a  citizen  of  a  mightier  country  than 
this — was  the  guest  of  one  of  their 
146 


TAMA 

princes.  Not  alone  his  friends  at 
home,  but  those  here — the  very 
Emperor  himself,  who  had  pledged 
himself  publicly  to  uphold  the  new 
enlightened  laws,  borrowed  from  the 
West — would  avenge  insult  and  wrong 
done  to  him — the  Tojin. 

His  answer,  translated  by  Negato, 
raised  a  turmoil  of  angry  discussion, 
and  that  one  who  seemed  to  be  the 
leader  of  the  company,  sprang  head 
long  forward,  as  if  to  show  the  way 
to  those  who  hesitated.  He  climbed 
half-way  up  the  steps  to  where  the 
Tojin  stood,  and  quick  as  a  cat  drew 
forward  his  swords. 

Every  eye  was  turned  upon  the  To- 
jin-san.  He  was  standing  tautly  erect, 
his  heavy,  pugnacious  chin  thrust 
out.  As  the  sword  of  the  samourai 
touched  him  he  drew  slightly  back 
ward,  then  with  a  swift,  merciless 
bound  sprang  headlong  upon  his  as- 
147 


TAMA 

sailant,  his  great  white  fists  flashing 
more  vividly  than  the  steel  had  done. 
Backward  went  the  samourai,  his 
swords  flying  out  of  either  hand. 
Without  a  cry,  he  fell  upon  the  grass 
path  beneath. 

And  the  Tojin-san  was  back  in  his 
place,  facing  them,  waiting  for  them, 
calm,  still  unmoved,  but  very  terrible 
and  mighty  to  look  upon. 

In  the  deadly  silence  that  followed, 
the  student  Nunuki  passed  the  castle 
gates,  followed  by  his  valiant,  stal 
wart  little  army  of  fellow -students. 
They  moved  in  a  line  steadily  onward, 
spread  out  on  all  sides  and  com 
pletely  surrounded  the  house  of  the 
Tojin. 

Ere  the  samourai  could  realize  it 
they  found  themselves  encircled  by 
an  army  four  times  their  own  in 
number.  Their  leader  lay  before 
them,  unmoving;  and  above  them 
148 


TAMA 

towered  the  grim,  terrible  figure  of 
this  west  -  countryman,  who  repre 
sented  in  his  gigantic  person  all  the 
power  and  strength  they  had  come 
to  know  and  superstitiously  believe 
belonged  to  the  West. 

One  by  one,  they  moved  toward 
the  gates,  broke  into  smaller  groups, 
passing  the  long  line  of  student 
warriors  without  a  word  or  sign  of 
war. 

Presently  the  Tojin  moved  a  step 
lower  down  into  the  garden.  He 
stood  a  moment,  staring  frowningly 
at  the  still  form  lying  at  his  feet. 
Then  slowly,  unwillingly  he  stooped, 
and  turned  it  over.  A  deep  breath 
escaped  him.  For  a  moment  things 
swam  dazedly  before  him,  for  the 
white,  agonized  face  upturned  was 
that  of  the  Daimio's  high  officer,  the 
Samourai  Gihei  Matsuyama! 


XVII 

As  a  mother  seeks  a  lost  child, 
so  the  Tojin-san  frantically  scoured 
every  nook  and  corner  of  the  Shiro 
Matsuhaira  for  the  fox-woman. 

In  the  interval  in  which  he  had 
faced  that  threatening,  blood-hungry 
mob,  she  had  gone!  He  was  torn 
with  sick  forebodings  of  the  fate  that 
might  have  befallen  her.  That  she 
had  gone  of  her  own  free  will,  he 
could  not  believe — no,  not  after  the 
promise  she  had  made  him! 

And  so,  with  his  wound  untended, 

his   brain  swimming  in  vertigo,   he 

staggered  from  room  to  room,  until 

the  morning  dawned  dim  and  gray, 

150 


TAMA 

and  the  sun  crept  over  the  horizon 
with  its  bright,  hard  eye. 

Wild  and  haggard-eyed,  shaking 
as  though  he  were  afflicted  with  ague, 
he  came  finally  back  to  his  own 
chamber.  Here  his  students  awaited 
him,  eager  to  show  him  their  good 
will,  to  congratulate  him  and  gossip 
over  the  certain  punishment  that 
would  overtake  those  who  had  mo 
lested  him.  But  he  heard  no  word 
that  they  spoke,  and  presently  they 
seemed  to  realize  that  something  was 
wrong  with  the  great  Tojin,  and  they 
drew  apart,  whispering,  and  regarding 
him  with  awed  glances. 

The  maid,  Obun,  snivelling  and 
shaking  with  fear,  crept  into  the  vast, 
deserted  kitchen  and  fell  to  putting  it 
in  order.  In  another  wing  of  the 
house  the  voice  of  the  lately  craven 
Genji  Negato  was  heard,  and  out 
along  the  road,  loaded  down  with 


TAMA 

their  belongings,  trailed  the  little 
caravan  of  menials,  creeping  humbly 
back  to  their  old  employment. 

Oh,  these  were  dark,  impoverished 
days  for  Fukui!  Who  could  refuse 
remunerative  employment  such  as 
this  ?  The  honorably  enlightened  stu 
dents  of  the  university  had  van 
quished  the  disgruntled,  fighting  ones ; 
Samourai  Matsuyama,  their  leader, 
was  desperately  sick,  shorn  of  his 
power,  and  deserted  even  by  his 
friends. 

And  the  fox-woman  was  gone !  No 
one  knew  how  or  when  she  had  gone. 
They  told,  in  whispers,  of  her  ghostly 
vanishing,  and  some  said  the  bottom 
less  lake  of  Matsuhaira,  with  its  white, 
chilly  lotus,  held  a  secret  all  its  own. 
But  "The  Lotus  tells  no  tales,"  as 
the  proverb  has  it,  and  how  should 
they  know,  and  why  should  they 
care  whether  the  fiendish  gagama, 
152 


TAMA 

who  had  haunted  their  master  for 
so  long,  floated  beneath  the  smiling 
water-flowers  or  not? 

They  gathered  together,  these  gab 
bling,  faithless  servants,  and  dis 
cussed  ways  and  means  to  propitiate 
the  Tojin-san.  Following  the  lead 
of  Genji  Negate,  finally,  they  took 
their  courage  into  their  hands  and 
came  to  his  apartment.  Barely  had 
they  entered  the  room,  however,  ere 
they  fled  again. 

One  look  only  at  the  distorted  face 
was  enough.  Like  a  pack  of  startled 
sheep  they  turned  tail  and  fled  from 
his  presence,  leaving  him  once  more 
alone,  pacing  and  repacing,  with 
staggering,  irregular  steps,  the  floor, 
crunching  his  great  hands  together 
as  if  in  some  mortal  agony. 

What  weakness  was  this  that  rob 
bed  him  of  his  manhood!  What 
anguish  that  pierced  to  his  very 


TAMA 

marrow?  Was  this  what  the  son  of 
the  Daimio's  high  officer  had  endured 
when  he  had  followed  the  fox-wom 
an  out  into  the  mountains  ?  Persist 
ently,  dazedly  he  thought  of  Gihei 
Matsuyama,  and  he  asked  himself 
repeatedly  why — why?  Suddenly  it 
was  clear — he  knew  why.  He  had 
killed  the  Daimio's  high  officer!  With 
his  own  mighty  hands  he  had  killed 
the  father  of  Gihei  Matsuyama! 

A  Chinese  doctor,  brought  by  the 
students  Junzo  and  Higo,  examined 
him  at  a  safe  distance,  and  he  said 
the  foreign  sensei  was  afflicted  with 
a  malady  of  the  brain. 

Outside  in  the  summer  gardens, 
serious-eyed,  grave-faced  boys  looked 
at  each  other  with  startled  glances, 
and  in  the  city  people  were  telling 
in  the  streets  of  the  dreadful  punish 
ments  certain  to  be  meted  out  to 
those  who  had  molested  the  guest  of 


TAMA 

their  absent  Prince;  for  word  had,  at 
last,  come  from  Tokio  that  he  had 
started  on  his  way  back  to  Fukui. 

The  day  with  its  sun  and  fragrance 
passed  away  unseen  to  the  great, 
blank-minded  Tojin.  But  when  the 
night  came,  with  a  whispering  breeze 
about  the  ancient  Matsuhaira,  he 
raised  a  listening  head. 

As  on  that  first  night  in  Fukui, 
plainly,  distinctly  he  heard  the  flutter 
ing,  human  knocking  upon  his  shoji. 
Holding  his  breath,  treading  on  tiptoe, 
he  found  his  way  to  the  doors,  drew 
them  apart  and  looked  out  into  the 
dusky  woods  beyond.  How  his  ears 
tingled  now,  straining  for  that  old 
caressing  call: 

"T-o-o — jin-san!    Too-jin-san!" 

Gently,  softly,  wooingly,  he  an 
swered  the  fox-woman,  breathing  her 
name  into  the  still  air  about  him : 

"Tama!    Tama!" 


TAMA 

And,  as  on  that  other  night,  again 
he  dropped  down  into  the  garden. 
Over  the  green-clipped  lawn  he  went, 
across  the  wing  of  the  moat,  into  the 
bamboo  grove,  and  on  and  on.  in  to  the 
beckoning,  luring  woods  of  Atago 
Yama. 


XVIII 

To  awaken  on  an  afternoon  in 
summer  upon  a  bed  of  moss  and 
fragrant  leaves;  to  rest  tired,  aching 
eyes  upon  a  clear,  pale  sky,  which 
smiled  divinely  through  interlacing 
boughs  of  towering  pines  and  hem 
locks;  to  hear  the  whistling  calls  of 
the  wood-birds ;  the  murmuring,  sob 
bing  laughter  of  some  fairy  brooklet 
close  at  hand ;  to  feel  the  touch  of  a 
fugitive  gentle  breeze  upon  one's 
brow — this  was  the  fate  of  the  Tojin- 
san! 

For  how  long  he  could  not  have 
told  he  lay  unmoving,  staring  dream 
ily  at  the  sky  above  him,  a  sense  of 
contentment,  of  rest,  of  comfort  - 


TAMA 

such  as  one  might  feel  after  a  long, 
exhausting  race,  permeating  his  whole 
being. 

Then  suddenly  upon  his  conscious 
ness  there  stole  another  sense — the 
dim,  exquisite  feeling  of  a  loved  pres 
ence  close  at  hand,  and  he  raised 
himself  slowly,  weakly  upon  his  el 
bow.  It  was  like  music  in  his  ears, 
that  faint,  caressing  voice  he  had 
listened  for  for  so  many  days : 

"To-o-jin-san!  Goran  nasai!"  (au 
gust  glance  deign). 

She  was  kneeling  by  his  side,  her 
questioning,  wistful  face  hovering 
above  his  own;  her  soft,  timid  little 
fingers  touching  his  brow,  his  eyes, 
his  lips. 

He  felt  himself  falling  backward 
again,  as  if  in  some  delicious  swoon, 
from  which  there  could  be  no  awaken 
ing.  Then  like  the  dimly  remembered 
scenes  of  a  vague  dream,  he  seemed 
158 


TAMA 

to  recall  a  time  wherein  he  had  wan 
dered  through  some  unending  woods, 
seeking,  seeking!  Now  the  dream 
had  ended  in  this — this  that  was  part 
of  the  dream  itself! 

She  stirred  ever  so  slightly,  and  as 
if  he  feared  she  might  vanish  by  her 
mere  stirring,  he  reached  up  the  great, 
once  mighty  arms,  and  sought  to 
envelop  her  within  them. 

Her  hair  had  the  odor  of  the  pine 
woods;  upon  her  lips  there  was  the 
breath  of  some  sweet  incense.  She 
remained  passive  within  his  grasp, 
but  presently  her  voice,  with  its 
tremulous  tone  of  tears,  broke  the 
spell  between  them — reached  him 
with  the  gentle  appeal  of  a  child  dis 
tressed. 

"Honorable  water  good  for  thirsty 
throat,"  she  said. 

Now  he  released  her,  and  she  drew 
back  to  find  the  little  cup  beside  her. 


TAMA 

He  let  her  raise  his  head  and  bring  the 
cup  to  his  lips,  and  with  his  eyes  still 
hungrily  upon  her  he  drank  the  water. 

He  was  content  merely  to  gaze  at 
her,  though  it  troubled  him  that  she 
no  longer  smiled.  She  said  in  a  very 
stricken  voice: 

"August  food  also  good  for  Tojin- 
san.  Bud,  alas!  I  god  nudding  bud 
rice!  Thas  good  enough  for  Tama — 
bud  nod  for  you,  Tojin-san." 

Even  in  his  weakness  he  laughed 
joyously  at  the  mere  notion  of  food 
fit  for  her  being  unfit  for  him,  and 
at  the  sound  of  his  low  laughter  her 
face  lighted  up  wonderfully. 

"You  gittin'  better!"  she  exclaimed 
joyously.  "Now  I  bring  you  thad  rice. 
Too  bad — bud  thas  all  I  got!  I  go 
ad  grade  temple  at  top  those  hill. 
Priest  too  fat  run  quick  to  catch  at 
me."  She  laughed  with  an  element 
of  her  old  mischievous  defiance. 
1 60 


TAMA 

As  he  did  not  speak,  too  intent 
upon  gazing  at  and  marvelling  on 
the  fairness  of  her  face,  her  ex 
pression  changed  to  one  of  melting 
anxiety. 

"I  am  lig'  unto  those  foolish 
karasu  [crow],  who  mek  chatter  all 
thad  time.  Condescend  forgive  me, 
Tojin-san.  I  nod  speag  agin  mebbe 
for — for  twenty  hour — yaes?" 

No  one  had  ever  kissed  her  hands 
before.  The  sound,  the  touch  aroused 
her  wonder,  her  apprehension.  She 
drew  her  hands  instinctively  from 
his,  and  for  a  moment  held  them  up 
before  her,  almost  as  if  she  looked 
at  them.  Then  with  an  impetuous, 
laughing  little  sob  she  thrust  them 
back  upon  him: 

"Do  agin  ad  my  hands,  Tojin-san! 
I  lig'  those,"  she  said. 

It  was  not  alone  the  pallor  of  bodily 
illness,  but  of  some  mental  pain  that 
161 


TAMA 

swept  over  his  face,  as  he  set  the 
little  hands  back  into  her  lap,  rever 
ently,  gently. 

Later,  when  strengthened  with  the 
simple  meal  she  made  for  him,  she 
told  him  how  the  night  before  she 
had  come  upon  him  in  the  Atago 
Yama  woods.  It  was  but  two  days 
since  the  terrible  events  at  the  Shiro 
had  driven  them  both  forth  into 
this  enchanted  wilderness.  He  had 
been  ill  but  a  night ;  yet  it  seemed  to 
him  many  days. 

No,  she  had  not  heard  him  calling 
her,  nor  had  she  called  him.  This, 
too,  was  part  of  the  dream ;  but  some 
thing  louder  than  any  human  cry 
had  reached  her  in  her  hiding-place 
in  the  mountains,  the  intuitive,  cer 
tain  sense  of  the  blind.  She  had 
retraced  her  steps  down  the  moun 
tain-side,  and  had  gone  cautiously 
seeking  in  the  woods  for  him;  and 
162 


TAMA 

the  gods  had  guided  her  aright.  Ah! 
to  his  very  feet. 

She  humbly  begged  him  to  pardon 
her  for  leaving  him;  but  she  had 
thought  this  was  the  only  way  she 
could  save  him  from  those  who  hated 
her.  Now — now  she  wished  to  repeat 
the  prayer  and  promise  she  had  made 
him  down  in  the  old  Shiro.  Never 
again  would  she  desert  him.  She 
would  always  abide  by  his  side.  She 
humbly  entreated  that  he  would  per 
mit  her  to  remain  with  him,  even  if 
she  must  follow  him  throughout  the 
world  as  a  slave,  the  meekest  and 
lowliest  of  servants. 

He  did  not  reply,  so  obsessed  was 
he  still  with  the  vision  of  her  loveli 
ness.  Throughout  the  golden  after 
noon  he  lay  there  watching  her  every 
little  movement,  her  slightest  change 
of  expression;  thrilling  under  the 
touch  of  her  hands,  the  sound  of  her 
163 


TAMA 

voice;  obeying  her  slightest  request; 
permitting  her  to  serve  him  as 
if  he  were  a  babe  and  she  his 
mother. 

Gradually  the  murmuring  of  the 
crickets  in  the  grass,  the  soft  chirp 
ing  of  the  birds,  even  the  babbling  of 
the  brook,  the  sighing  of  the  gentle 
breezes  seemed  to  soften  their  tone 
to  one  concerted  murmuring  lulla 
by.  A  veil  crept  gently  over  the 
sky,  shutting  out  the  sun  and  its 
light. 

She  put  a  pillow  of  pine  needles 
beneath  his  head,  and  she  covered 
him  over  with  a  downy,  silken  mantle 
that  smelled  of  temple  incense  and 
was  gorgeous  beyond  words  with  the 
golden  embroidery  of  some  sacred 
order. 

And  presently  as  he  drowsed  de- 
liciously  under  the  warm  fragrant 
silk,  he  felt  her  stirring  at  his  feet, 
164 


TAMA 

and  her  tired  little  voice  came  whis 
pering  to  him  as  if  from  very  far 
away : 

' '  Sayonara,  To j  in-san !  Imadzuka ! ' ' 
(Now  we  rest). 


XIX 

ONE  does  not  always  count  the 
gilded  days  of  summer  in  the  moun 
tains.  It  might  have  been  a  month, 
a  week,  or  a  few  days  in  which  the 
Tojin-san  and  the  fox-woman  wan 
dered  over  Atago  Yama.  But  the 
season  of  Little  Heat  passed  into 
that  of  the  Great  Heat,  and  they  did 
not  know  it. 

The  mountains  were  cool;  there 
was  a  green  wonder  world  about 
them.  Soft  shadows  flickered  across 
the  sun-burned  paths;  intangible 
breezes  fanned  them  with  their 
scented  breaths.  They  trod  a  car 
peted  paradise  that  was  all  beauty, 
all  harmony.  They  felt  like  the 
166 


TAMA 

birds  which  blew  over  them,  or  came 
shyly,  timorously  at  her  calling  to 
share  her  morsel  of  rice  and  ber 
ries. 

Even  had  he  desired  to  do  so,  the 
Tojin  could  not  have  found  his  way 
back  to  the  city.  Seven-eighths  of 
the  province  is  mountain  land,  and 
she  had  led  him  over  paths  she  alone 
knew,  and  indeed  had  made — narrow, 
hidden  little  paths  that  traced  their 
unending  way  in  and  out  the  densest 
portion  of  the  wooded  mountains. 

They  passed  no  humblest  lodge,  no 
smallest  temple  even,  though  he 
knew  that  there  were  many  in  the 
mountains,  and  the  music  of  their 
bells  reached  them  at  times  like  the 
tingling  call  of  a  familiar  voice  very 
far  away. 

She  knew  every  secret  corner  of  the 
mountains.  The  purest  springs,  hid 
den  pools  and  lakelets,  caves  of  un- 
167 


TAMA 

believable  wonder  and  beauty,  she 
showed  now  to  the  Tojin-san. 

Clouds  of  sacred  pigeons  followed 
her  as  if  they  knew  her.  They  were 
of  her  own  Temple  Tokiwa,  she  told 
him,  and  were  part  of  her  heritage 
from  the  ancestors  of  her  mother 
who  had  founded  the  temple.  She 
knew  them  all — every  single  bird,  so 
she  told  him  proudly ;  knew,  too,  why 
they  were  wandering  thus  far  from 
home.  They  were  seeking  her,  their 
guardian,  who  had  been  gone  for  so 
many,  many  days. 

For  the  first  time  she  recoiled  from 
him  when  he  suggested  that  they 
utilize  the  birds  for  food.  Up  till 
then  they  had  depended  entirely 
upon  the  seemingly  inexhaustible 
stores  of  rice  she  seemed  to  have 
hidden  in  a  hundred  different  places 
in  the  mountains,  and  upon  the  fish 
trapped  in  the  streams,  the  fruit  and 
1 68 


TAMA 

wild  vegetables  which  were  plentiful 
enough.  She  had  never  dreamed  of 
the  pigeons  as  an  addition  to  their 
diet,  and  her  expression  was  quite 
tragic  and  piteous. 

"They  are  of  the  temple,"  rever 
ently  she  said .  ' '  The  gods  love  them , 
and  I — I  may  not  eat  the  forbidden 
meat." 

"Forbidden  meat?" 

She  looked  at  him  timidly  with  a 
new  expression  in  her  face.  It  was 
as  if  a  flame  had  crept  into  her  eyes 
and  set  its  touch  upon  her  lips.  She 
had  crossed  her  hands  upon  her 
bosom. 

"I,  too,  am  Ni-no  ama,  like  unto 
my  mother,"  she  softly  said.  "For 
both  our  sin  I  got  mek  thad  atone 
ment  unto  Buddha!" 

He  regarded  her  in  a  spellbound 
silence.  There  was  something  about 
her  words,  her  actions,  withal  their 
12  169 


TAMA 

simplicity,  that  held  a  sacredness. 
She,  against  whom  the  hostile  hands 
of  an  entire  Buddhist  community 
had  been  raised,  a  priestess  of  the 
Buddha!  It  was  impossible,  prepos 
terous!  She  had  been  but  a  child 
when  her  parents  were  killed.  What 
could  they  have  taught  her  thus 
early  ? 

She  seemed  to  realize  from  his 
silence  his  doubts,  and  suddenly  she 
stepped  back,  raising  her  hands  high 
above  her  head,  bringing  the  tips  of 
the  fingers  together.  A  moment  she 
stood  with  her  face  upraised,  her  eyes 
closed. 

"For  you,  oh  Tojin-san,  I  will 
danze !  It  is  as  my  mother  have  tich 
me  the  danze  for  the  gods.  Haiken 
suru ! ' '  (Adoringly  look) . 

From  side  to  side  she  swayed,  her 

small,  exquisite  hands  moving  in  the 

i1         languorous    motions    of    the    dance. 

170 


TAMA 

Never  in  even  the  greatest  temples  of 
Kioto  or  Nikko  had  he  seen  a  priest 
ess  perform  as  she  was  doing.  He 
thought  of  the  glittering  robes  of  the 
hundred  nuns  chanting  their  splendid 
ritual  before  some  gorgeous  altar,  of 
their  impassive,  stony  faces,  their 
ebony  hair,  their  narrow,  inscrutable 
eyes.  But  she,  with  her  unbound 
hair  of  gold,  her  bosom  and  face  of 
snow! 

Yes,  they  were  right,  they  of 
Fukui !  She  was  an  incarnation  of  the 
Sun  Goddess,  tripping  like  the  Spring 
upon  the  earth,  and  inspiring  in  the 
hearts  and  eyes  of  all  who  saw  her 
sensations  of  adoration,  and  of  those 
who  dared  not  look,  of  fear — fear  and 
hatred! 

She  had  stolen  the  face  and  vest 
ments  of  the  goddess,  so  they  had 
said;  but  her  soul  was  that  of  a  fox! 

There  burst  upon  him  suddenly  a 
171 


TAMA 

realization  of  the  impassable  gulf  be 
tween  them,  and  with  the  knowledge 
came  an  overwhelming  sense  of  rev 
olution,  the  mad,  irresistible  passion 
of  the  primitive  man  who  knows  only 
his  desires. 

But  a  moment  later  she  was  at  his 
feet,  her  pure,  trusting  face  smiling 
appealingly  up  at  him. 


XX 

Now  came  the  Season  of  White 
Dew.  The  days  were  unbelievably 
beautiful.  The  first  russet  touch  of 
the  autumn  barely  cast  its  shadow 
upon  the  green  about  them,  the  yellow 
tints  of  leaf  and  flower  mellowed  into 
a  dull  crimson  glory. 

But  the  nights  turned  chill,  and 
in  the  early  mornings  there  was  the 
heavy  print  of  the  frosted  dew  upon 
the  ground. 

Unconsciously  they  quickened  their 
lagging  footsteps,  and  turned  into 
shorter  paths  that  would  bring  them 
sooner  to  Sho  Kon  Sha,  the  cemetery 
of  "Soul  Beckoning  Rest,"  which  was 
to  be  the  end  of  their  journey.  This 


TAMA 

was  her  home,  so  she  said — the  gar 
dens  of  the  temples  of  her  ancestors. 
Only  a  few  hill -lengths  from  the 
cemetery  was  the  Temple  Tokiwa, 
deserted,  almost  in  ruins,  but — her 
home! 

There  her  parents  had  lived — and 
died!  Here  she  had  been  happy  in 
her  solitary  childhood,  hidden  and 
sheltered  by  fearful  but  loving  par 
ents.  Here  her  mother  had  taught 
her  to  dance  for  the  gods  and  entreat 
them  with  her  prayers;  here  her 
father  had  told  her  of  another  God, 
another  heaven.  After  her  parents 
were  gone,  the  aged  temple  had  been 
her  only  sure  place  of  refuge,  a 
sanctuary  wherein  even  the  stoutest 
of  hunters  dared  not  penetrate;  for 
the  wrathful  gods  still  stared  with 
their  dreadful  eyes  upon  the  affronted 
altar,  and  at  the  very  portals  the 
demons  Ni-o,  guarding  the  sacred 


TAMA 

gates,  might  no  longer  be  propiti 
ated. 

Now  confidently,  happily,  with  the 
pride  of  a  child  thither  she  was  lead 
ing  the  Tojin,  eager  to  show  him  this 
beautiful  shelter  she  wished  to  share 
with  him  forever.  But,  ah!  how 
sweet  had  been  the  mountain  paths 
this  summer,  and  why  need  they 
hasten  ?  The  restless,  vindictive  little 
city  was  very  far  away,  and  the  fox- 
woman  trod  upon  territory  all  her 
own,  hers  by  right  of  every  instinct, 
and  by  the  very  law  of  the  land,  did 
she  but  know  it,  which  made  her 
proper  heir  to  her  ancestors'  property. 

Now  they  were  very  near  to  the 
temple,  and  soon  she  would  spread 
forth  her  arms  and  say  to  the  Tojin: 

''Behold,  dear  exalted  one,  here  is 
my  honorable  home.  Condescend  to 
step  upon  its  floor." 

And  in  her  mind  she  fancied  the 


TAMA 

face  of  the  Tojin  would  shine  with  a 
great  light  of  happiness. 

Now  he  said  to  her  dreamily,  as  he 
followed  her  through  a  shadowy  by 
path  which  crept  into  a  sunlit  forest 
of  dripping  willow-trees: 

"Some  day  I  shall  awake.  It  can 
not  be  true  that  I  am  here  with 
you  alone  in  these  wild  mountains, 
wandering  along  in  this  aimless 
bliss!" 

Because  she  put  back  her  hand, 
and  he  took  it  perforce  in  his  own, 
he  continued  in  his  low,  wooing 
voice : 

"And  when  I  wake,  little  Tama,  I 
will  know  the  truth  of  what  you 
once  said  to  me :  that  our  dreams  are 
the  most  beautiful  of  all." 

She  stopped  and  turned  back  to 
him,  with  the  tall  foliage  and  grass 
almost  burying  her  in  its  thick 
ness: 

176 


TAMA 

"You  god  no  udder  dream  more 
beautiful?"  she  questioned  wistfully. 

"No  other,"  he  answered  softly. 
"Have  you?" 

"No.  This  is  mos'  bes'  dream  of 
all — jost  be  'lone  wiz  you  ad  those 
mountains!  Thas  bes'  dream  in  all 
the  whole  worl',  Tojin-san!" 

In  the  silence  that  fell  between 
them,  and  as  he  still  clasped  her 
hands,  a  momentary  shadow  flitted 
across  her  face,  and  she  stood  wide- 
eyed,  as  though  she  saw  a  vision. 

"Alas!"  she  said  in  such  a  mourn 
ful  tone:  "Dreams  like  unto  thad 
mist.  Now  here  so  sweet,  so — so 
beyond  our  touch.  Next  hour  gone 
—gone  perhaps  foraever!  Nod  even 
the  gods  know  where  they  gone!" 

He  scarcely  knew  his  own  voice,  so 
full  of  a  deep  encompassing  tender 
ness  and  yearning  was  it: 

' '  Our  dream  is  to  be  different  from 
177 


TAMA 

others,"  he  said  solemnly.  "It  will 
never  end.  Not  for  a  lifetime,  little 
Tama!" 

"It  surely  goin'  last  foraever  ad 
this  worl'?"  she  asked  with  sceptical 
wistfulness. 

"If  you  wish  it,"  said  he  huskily. 

When  the  sun  was  dipping  down  in 
the  west,  and  but  half  its  red  face 
showed  above  the  shadowy  hills  of 
Hakusan,  the  fox-woman  felt  the 
fears  seize  her  in  their  throttling  grip 
again. 

She  stood  like  one  under  some 
spell,  her  back  against  the  trunk  of 
a  giant  oak,  her  hair  like  a  veritable 
aureole  above  her. 

Down  in  a  little  ravine,  but  a  few 
feet  from  where  she  stood,  the  Tojin- 
san  was  gathering  dried  sticks  to 
build  their  evening  fire.  She  could 
hear  him  as  he  moved  from  point  to 
178 


TAMA 

point.  Sometimes  he  whistled  softly 
to  himself,  sometimes  hummed  vague 
snatches  of  song. 

Farther  away — at  a  distance  be 
yond  her  sight,  even  if  she  could  have 
seen — she  knew,  with  that  intuitive 
certainty  of  the  blind,  that  others 
were  passing  over  their  tracks. 

Her  hand  sought  her  heart,  and 
clung  to  it,  as  if  to  stop  its  beating. 
Fear  lent  sudden  wings  to  her  feet, 
as  with  a  little  gasping  cry  she  fled 
downward  to  the  hollow  where  the 
Tojin  labored.  She  was  beside  him 
before  he  had  heard  or  seen  her,  and 
now  in  surprise  he  looked  at  her  white 
little  face  of  anguish. 

"Tama!" 

"You  speag  right,"  she  said,  and 
could  not  smile  with  her  white  lips 
so  tremulous,  "thas  only — beautiful 
dream.  Thad  mist  gone — away!" 

"Dream!  No,  it's  a  beautiful  real- 
179 


TAMA 

ity.  We  are  here,  together,  and 
nothing  in  the  world  shall  ever  tear 
us  apart  again." 

"Nothing  in  the  worl',"  she  re 
peated. 

Suddenly  she  covered  her  eyes,  as 
if  the  light  pained  them.  From  be 
hind  her  little  sheltering  hands  came 
her  voice,  still  with  that  note  of 
pleading  terror: 

"They  come — tear  you  'way  from 
me  now,  Tojin-san!  All  the  way — 
how  many  miles  I  kinnod  say — I  see 
them!  In  my  heart  I  know!  Ad  my 
ears  I  hear!  Those  feet — ah,  cannot 
you  hear  them  also,  kind  Tojin-san? 
Listen!" 

She  put  up  her  hands,  and  they 
stood  in  a  silence,  straining  for  the 
sound  that  only  she  could  hear,  or 
believed  she  did. 

He  knew  she  was  right.  Her  in 
stinctive  sense  was  keener  than  mere 
1 80 


TAMA 

sight .  Simply,  with  a  tender  strength 
that  could  not  be  resisted,  he  took 
her  little  hand  in  his. 

"Come,  Tama.  We  must  reach 
Sho  Kon  Sha  to-night." 

"Yaes,"  she  murmured,  and  now 
there  was  a  note  of  plaintive  weari 
ness  in  her  voice.  "I  thought  she 
said  the  gods  were  good,  an'  that 
perhaps  they  goin'  forgit  us  here  in 
those  mountains." 

She  sighed  and  moved  along  step 
by  step  beside  him. 

"Now  I  know,"  she  said,  "I  god 
new  visitor  ad  my  heart!" 
"What  is  it,  little  Tama?" 
"Fear,"  she  said,  "—for  you!" 
"What  blessed  nonsense!" 
"You    are    Tojin,    like    unto    my 
father,"  she  said,  in  a  voice  of  anguish, 
"and  oh,  all  those  days  my  life  how 
I   kin  forgit  what  happen  unto  my 
father!" 

181 


TAMA 

"That  was  many  years  ago,"  he 
said.  "It  is  a  New  Japan  we  live 
in  to-day,  and  I  have  friends — even 
in  Fukui!" 


XXI 

A  NEW  impulse  drew  them  now 
more  closely  together.  Side  by  side, 
pressed  closely  to  each  other,  they 
travelled  swiftly  toward  Sho  Kon  Sha. 
They  dared  not  wait  to  eat,  to  sleep, 
to  rest  but  a  moment,  and  the  night 
found  them  still  moving  onward. 

They  spoke  scarcely  at  all  to  each 
other;  but  she  rested  like  a  child  in 
the  curve  of  his  arm,  her  head  against 
his  breast.  Once  she  sighed,  ever  so 
faintly — a  little  breath  of  weariness 
that  escaped  her  almost  unconsci 
ously. 

Instantly  he  stopped,  lifted  her  face 
in  his  hands,  and,  in  the  dark  woods, 
anxiously  examined  it. 
183 


TAMA 

"You  are  crying,  Tama." 

"No-o,"  she  said. 

"But  your  face  is  wet." 

"It  is  the  dew  upon  my  face,"  she 
said. 

Again  they  moved  onward.  About 
them  towered  the  giant  trees,  sil 
houetted  against  the  starlit  skies. 
Sometimes  as  the  ascent  became 
more  steep,  they  clung  to  out  jutting 
shrubs  and  bushes,  and  once  when  he 
fancied  her  footsteps  slightly  dragged, 
he  lifted  her  bodily  in  his  arms  and 
carried  her  for  a  space.  But  she 
begged  to  be  permitted  to  walk. 
There  was  still  a  great  distance  to  go. 
He  must  not  be  hampered  by  her 
burden.  She  wished  to  help — not 
hinder  him. 

The  night  grew  more  still,  and  a 

penetrating    chill    descended    about 

them.     He  drew  off  his  coat,  to  put 

about  her;  but  she  showed  him  where 

184 


TAMA 

she  had  strapped  to  her  back,  with 
the  string  of  her  obi,  the  quilt.  He 
had  thought  it  part  of  her  sash,  and 
was  all  compunction  that  he  had  per 
mitted  her  to  carry  even  so  slight  a 
load.  She  laughed  in  her  little  trem 
ulous  way,  and  challenged  him  to 
untie  the  knot.  In  the  dark  his  big, 
clumsy  fingers  picked  at  it  in  vain. 
Again  she  laughed,  caressingly,  with 
a  teasing  tenderness,  and  she  drew 
the  little  bundle  round  in  front.  It 
fell  at  her  feet  in  a  soft,  silken  heap. 

He  was  for  wrapping  it  several 
times  around  her;  but  she  insisted 
she  would  not  proceed  even  the  frac 
tion  of  a  step  unless  he  shared  the 
quilt  with  her.  And  so,  his  arm  again 
about  her,  under  the  down-padded 
temple  quilt,  they  moved  along  in 
the  chilly  darkness,  defying  with  the 
new  warmth  of  their  hearts  and 
bodies  the  cold  of  the  autumn  night. 
13  185 


TAMA 

Thus  all  night  long  they  travelled, 
their  feet  moving  mechanically,  but 
never  unwillingly,  pausing  not  at  all 
to  look  backward  over  the  paths  they 
had  followed,  but  pressing  steadily 
onward  toward  their  goal.  And  the 
first  pale  streak  of  dawn  found  them 
climbing  up  the  last  height,  within 
the  very  sight  of  Sho  Kon  Sha. 


XXII 

As  the  laggard  sun  crept  stealthily 
out  of  the  east,  a  vision  of  extra 
ordinary  loveliness  burst  upon  them. 
There,  within  but  the  length  of  a 
single  hill  and  field  from  them,  the 
ragged  peaks  of  the  old  Temple  To- 
kiwa  raised  a  lordly  head  above  the 
sun-flecked  pines. 

Stripped  of  its  wealth,  but  not  its 
beauty,  showing  the  ravages  of  fire 
and  assault  upon  its  burnished  walls, 
deserted,  falling  to  the  decay  of  neg 
lected  age,  it  was  more  compellingly 
majestic  than  any  of  the  famous 
structures  the  Tojin-san  had  seen. 

The  approach  was  over  terraces 
made  of  countless  stone  steps,  many 
187 


TAMA 

of  them  now  loose  and  entirely  over 
grown  with  grass  and  weeds. 

The  pagoda  was  of  seven  stories, 
its  crimson  eaves  still  fringed  with 
shattered  wind-bells. 

A  swarm  of  pigeons  flew  about  its 
eaves  and  roof,  and  came  to  meet 
them  in  a  voluble,  almost  intelligent 
cloud.  She  ran  to  meet  them,  hold 
ing  out  her  arms  and  calling  and 
chirping  to  them.  Dipping  into  her 
long  sleeves,  she  brought  up  handfuls 
of  the  rice  she  had  not  forgotten  to 
bring  with  her,  and  threw  it  gener 
ously  among  them.  They  pecked  at 
her  hand,  seeking  scoldingly  for  the 
food,  and  sprang  upon  her  shoulders, 
her  head,  her  hands.  Presently,  chid- 
ingly,  she  drove  them  off,  shaking  her 
sleeves  at  them  and  waving  them  back. 

Now  she  drew  the  Tojin  into  the 
temple,  pushing  back  its  rusty  doors 
with  a  careful  hand. 
1 88 


TAMA       AT       THE       TEMPLE      TOKIWA 


TAMA 

He  was  struck  with  the  empty 
majesty  of  the  interior.  It  had  been 
stripped  of  all  its  treasures,  save  the 
great  stone  images,  which  still  sat 
inscrutably  upon  their  thrones. 

The  altar  was  devoid  of  vestments ; 
no  twinkling  lights  or  swinging  cen 
sers  burned  their  incense  for  the  de 
lectation  of  the  gods;  yet  the  pene 
trating  odor  of  sandalwood  and  the 
dim  fragrance  of  umegaku  and  the 
pine  seemed  to  cling  about  the  very 
air. 

By  the  great  main  altar,  the  hid 
eous  old  god  Bunzura  glared  at  them 
from  beneath  his  sleepy  eyelids,  rest 
ing  fatuously  upon  his  haunches.  Be 
fore  him  was  the  bar  where  once 
thousands  of  slips  of  paper  containing 
written  prayers,  were  tied.  Now  it 
was  entirely  stripped  and  glittered  up 
in  the  face  of  the  god  in  a  mocking 
irony. 

189 


TAMA 

Tama  moved  softly  by  the  image, 
pausing  only  to  put  her  hand  upon  its 
knee,  caressing  it  gently,  as  if  with 
a  conciliating,  loving  pat.  It  was 
evident  she  did  not  stand  in  awe  of 
the  gods.  She  had  been  born  among 
them ;  knew  them  as  part  of  her  own 
silent  family,  exiled  like  herself  upon 
the  mountains. 

She  even  put  her  cheek  against  the 
head  of  a  peculiarly  sinister-looking 
image,  who  was  attended  by  three 
smaller  gods.  The  Tojin-san  recog 
nized  the  group.  They  were  in  every 
Buddhist  temple.  Ema,  the  Lord  of 
Hell,  with  his  assistant  torturers,  one 
of  which  wielded  a  sword,  one  a  pen, 
and  one  a  priest's  staff. 

Now  she  made  her  first  prostration, 
bowing  lowly,  and  slipping  devoutly 
to  her  knees.  She  was  in  a  little  al 
cove  wherein  no  image  whatever  was 
to  be  seen. 

190 


TAMA 

As  he  stood  wondering  why  she 
should  choose  this  empty  corner  for 
her  prayers,  he  perceived  upon  the 
wall  a  curious  print  or  scroll.  It  was 
a  faded  paper  chromo,  apparently 
many  years  old,  the  picture  upon 
it  almost  obliterated,  the  ends  of 
the  paper  showing  charred  marks 
where  it  must  have  once  started  to 
burn. 

A  curious  sensation  stirred  within 
the  Tojin,  such  a  feeling  as  one  might 
only  know  when  in  a  land  of  gods  one 
sees  for  the  first  time  an  emblem  or 
a  token  of  one's  own  true  God;  for 
the  tattered,  shabby  scroll  upon  the 
wall  was  a  picture  of  the  Christ! 

She  seemed  to  sense  his  emotion 
and  excitement,  and,  still  kneeling, 
raised  a  pair  of  smiling  eyes: 

"It  is  my  father's  God,"  she  said. 
"To  him,  mos'  of  all,  I  speag  me  my 
petitions." 

191 


TAMA 

"Why  to  him?"  he  asked,  deeply 
moved. 

"Because,"  she  answered  simply, 
"he,  too,  lig'  me,  knew  trobble.  Thas 
why  I  speag  to  him  my  heart  —  ac 
count  I  know  he — listen!" 


XXIII 

THE  Tojin-san  took  what  measures 
he  could  for  their  future  protection. 
An  exploration  throughout  the  seven- 
storied  pagoda  brought  to  light  some 
old  weapons  —  a  rifle  and  a  sword, 
once  evidently  her  father's.  They 
were  out  of  date,  and  in  bad  condi 
tion,  but  better  than  nothing,  he 
decided. 

As  she  had  shown  him  a  small  exit 
in  the  rear,  of  which  the  outside  of 
the  pagoda  gave  no  inkling,  he  decid 
ed  to  barricade  the  main  entrance. 
This  he  did,  after  a  gigantic  effort, 
by  piling  several  of  the  images  before 
it  until  they  effectually  blocked  the 
entrance.  As  their  faces  were  turned 


TAMA 

outward  he  surmised  their  weird  ef 
fect  upon  the  marauders  when,  after 
forcing  the  doors,  they  should  find 
themselves  fronted  with  so  formidable 
a  guard  as  these. 

No  one,  so  she  said,  had  stepped 
across  the  threshold  since  that  fright 
ful  day  when,  in  their  fanatical  hatred, 
the  danka  had  murdered  her  parents. 

She  had  always  been  kept  hidden 
in  one  of  the  upper  stories  of  the  pa 
goda,  and  at  this  time  no  one  had 
seen  her  save  her  parents. 

On  that  day  she  had  fled  to  the 
very  roof  in  her  first  impulse  of 
mortal  terror;  but  even  from  there, 
with  her  ears  covered  by  her  hands, 
she  had  heard  the  cries  of  her  father 
and  her  mother,  and  the  wild,  brutal, 
triumphant  shouting  of  those  who 
had  killed  them. 

A  strange  sense  of  quiet  came  sud 
denly  upon  her.  She  crept  stealthily, 
194 


TAMA 

but  fearlessly,  back  down  the  seven 
stories  of  the  pagoda,  and  opened  the 
great  doors  that  gave  ingress  to  the 
temple.  There  for  the  first  time  the 
people  of  Fukui  saw  her,  standing 
like  a  flame  upon  the  altar  of  the 
great  Shaka,  whither  she  had  leaped 
from  the  door  in  a  single  bound. 

Her  hair  was  more  glittering  than 
the  altar  itself;  her  eyes,  her  skin 
were  of  a  color  no  man  in  Fukui  had 
ever  seen  before.  She  seemed  to 
their  dazzled  eyes  a  vengeful  spirit, 
whom  the  Lord  Buddha  had  up 
lifted.  They  stood  as  if  petrified, 
staring  at  her  as  she  swayed  before 
them  on  the  very  lap  of  the  god. 
Then,  with  a  concerted  cry  of  super 
stitious  fear  and  horror,  they  slunk 
from  the  temple,  leaving  her  alone — 
with  her  dead ! 

As  the  Tojin  looked  about  the  great 
chamber,  he  felt  himself  almost  un- 


TAMA 

consciously  rehearsing  that  grim  scene 
of  the  past.  He  knew  why  her  hand 
had  been  set  against  the  whole  world, 
why  she  had  terrified  and  defied  her 
tormentors.  Even  now,  as  she  re 
peated  the  tale  to  him  her  face  was 
white  and  fixed. 

"Now  you  know,"  she  said,  "why 
I  am  call  the  fox-woman!  Perhaps 
thas  true  'bout  me.  Mebbe  I  am 
gagama!" 

"You  are  not,"  he  said,  "even  in 
spite  of  them." 

She  was  silent,  staring  out  before 
her  in  some  abstracted  trance.  Sud 
denly  she  sighed: 

"I  nod  Kg'  udder  people!  Thas 
bedder  nod  come  near  unto  me.  I 
mek  the  trobble,  and  sometimes — the 
death  for  those  who  seek  me!  Down 
in  Fukui  perhaps  already  they  have 
tol'  you  of  thad  —  Gihei  Matsuya- 
ma?" 

196 


TAMA 

"They  told  me,"  he  said,  "but  I 
do  not  believe  them." 

"Thas  true,"  she  said,  and  there 
was  a  plaintive  note  of  weariness  in 
her  voice.  "He  cum  lig'  unto  a 
storm  that  fall  down  from  those  sky 
wiz  no  warning.  When  I  am  come 
from  my  door,  he  there  to  await  me. 
He  speag  my  name  sof — kind — lig' 
you,  Tojin-san!  No  one  aever  speag 
unto  me  lig'  thad  before.  No!  They 
bud  cry  to  me  those  name  and  curse 
and  throw  the  stone  upon  me!  Bud 
he!  he  speag  lig'  you  augustness. 

"Ad  firs'  my  heart  stan'  still — it 
'fraid.  I  thing  of  my  father — my 
mother,  and  I  am  'fraid  he  come  kill 
me  also.  Then  again  he  speag  my 
name  sof  and  kind,  an'  I  say  ad  my 
heart:  'Thas  god  come  veesit  me!' 
An'  so — an'  so — for  him  I  mek  the  sa 
cred  danze.  But  when  I  am  through, 
I  know  I  mek  meestake — thas  nod 
197 


TAMA 

god  ad  all!  Thas  jost  man  from 
Fukui ! 

"Then  my  heart  laugh  wizin  me, 
and  my  feet  carry  me  quick  across 
those  mountain.  I  loog  nod  bag, 
though  I  hear  his  voice,  for  I  am  thad 
'fraid  agin.  I  know  nod  why,  Tojin- 
san." 

Her  voice  faltered.  She  went  a 
timid  step  nearer  to  him,  touched  his 
hand  questioningly  with  her  own. 

"The  blind  see  wiz  one  thousand 
inner  eye,  bud,  ah,  alas!  they  see  nod 
also  for  another.  How  could  I  know 
thad  the  foolish  one  would  nod  loog 
upon  his  steps?" 

She  shuddered  and  covered  her  face 
with  her  little  shaking  hands. 

"How  many  days  I  waiting  ad 
thad  pool — jos'  waiting,  Tojin-san, 
wiz  the  hope  that  mebbe  some  day 
he  goin'  come  bag  out  those  water." 

"You  must  never  think  of  it  again," 
198 


TAMA 

he  said.  "You  were  entirely  blame 
less." 

"Sometime  I  thing,"  she  went  on 
wistfully,  "thad  mebbe  those  Fukui 
people  right,  an  me? — I  am  truly  a 
fox-woman.  For  see  what  trobble, 
what — death  I  mek  for  those  who 
see  me.  Even  for  you,  kind  Tojin- 
san,  alas!  I  mus'  bring  you  those 
pain!" 

"No — that  is  not  so,"  he  said. 

"I  know  nod  when  or  how  firs'  I 
have  hear  of  your  comin'.  They  talk 
of  nothing  else  at  Fukui,  an'  I  am 
always  listen,  though  they  see  me 
nod.  Something  tell  me,  when  you 
come  all  those  worl'  goin'  change 
for  me!  Thas'  why  I  wait,  wait,  all 
thad  winter  for  your  comin'." 

A  smile,  wistful,  yet  joyous,  crept 
over  her  lips. 

"You  din  know,"  she  said,  "thad 
firs'  day  in  Fukui,  thad  I  too  am  ad 
199 


TAMA 

your  house  to  welcome  you.  Bud 
me  ?  I  am  nod  wizin  thad  house.  I 
am  out  in  thad  snow.  I  kinnod 
speag  unto  you  Kg'  those  others.  I 
may  nod  even  touch  you  honorable 
hand.  Bud  all  same  I  know  you  are 
Tojin — Kg'  unto  my  father !  Oh,  how 
glad — how  joy  I  am!  Though  my 
feet,  my  hand,  my  nose,  my  honorable 
ears  perish  wiz  those  cold,  still  I  am 
wait  for  you.  When  all  those  honor 
able  exalted  ones  gone — then — then 
I,  too,  call  you  name!  To-o-jin-san!" 

She  made  a  little  shivering  motion. 

"Bud  sup-pose  I  bring  you  also 
thad— thad  death?" 

"There  is  nothing  to  fear,"  he  said 
steadily,  "and  if  there  were,  I  am 
strong  enough  to  face  any  peril  with 
you  at  my  side!" 

"Oh,  my  mind  travel  bag  on  thad 
past!  I  hear  again  my  father's  voice 
— my  mother's  cry!  I  am  toaching 

200 


TAMA 

their  beloved  body.  I  am  tek  them 
in  thad  black  night  unto  the  Sho  Kon 
Sha,  and  wiz  these  liddle  hands,  all 
alone,  I  am  put  them  in  their — grave! 
Tojin-san!  Ah-h!" 

She  hid  her  face  against  his  arm. 

"If  they  should  do  to  you  the 
same!"  she  said. 

"For  myself  I  have  no  fear,"  he 
said. 

"Why  nod  leave  me  now?"  she 
urged.  "Go  bag  alone  down  those 
mountain.  No  one  speag  hard  to 
you  who  so  moch  mek  respect.  Wiz 
me  there  is  moch  trobble,  an'  mebbe 
worse!" 

"Without  you,"  he  said,  "there  is 
more  trouble,  and  a  deep  pain — an 
aching  void  that  could  never  again  be 
filled.  With  you  here  alone,  cut  off 
from  all  the  world,  holding  your  little 
hands  in  my  own,  looking  into  your 
face,  why,  even  facing  death,  I  am 

14  201 


TAMA 

content — happier  than  I  had  ever 
dreamed  it  possible  to  be." 

"Thas  beautiful  word  you  speag," 
she  said.  "Bud  if  the  gods—" 

She  folded  her  hands  across  her 
breast  and  closed  her  eyes  in  prayer. 

"Temmei  itashikata  kore  maku!" 
she  whispered  lowly.  (From  the  de 
cree  of  heaven  there  is  no  escape.) 


XXIV 

THE  rapping  on  the  temple  doors 
was  not  loud  or  menacing,  but  it  was 
insistent,  questioning.  TheTojin-san 
drew  the  fox-woman  to  the  winding 
staircase  which  led  up  the  seven 
stories  to  the  tower  above. 

Once  before  Tama  had  been  sent 
up  yonder.  Then  she  had  gone 
willingly,  even  frantically.  Now  she 
made  no  movement  up  the  stairs. 
Instead,  she  turned  her  back  upon 
them,  and  faced  the  Tojin  fairly. 
Upon  her  face  a  smile  shone  luminous 
ly  as  a  star.  Simply,  steadily,  she 
laid  her  hands  in  those  of  the  man. 

For  a  moment  he  held  them  in  his 
own,  his  eyes  fixed  yearningly  upon 
203 


TAMA 

her  face,  and  even  while  the  knocks 
resounded  louder  upon  the  door  the 
clouds  cleared  from  his  mind. 

Looking  into  those  uplifted,  ador 
ing  eyes  he  forgot  all  else.  A  sound 
that  was  half  a  sob,  half  a  passionate 
cry  escaped  him.  He  reached  out 
irresistibly  and  took  her  into  his  arms. 
For  the  first  time  his  lips  hungrily, 
passionately  found  her  own,  and  clung 
in  a  kiss  that  over  all  the  years  of  a 
lifetime  neither  he  nor  she  might 
ever  forget.  They  saw  nothing,  heard 
nothing,  felt  only  that  close,  encom 
passing  embrace  that  made  them  one 
indeed. 

Then  upon  their  dream  at  last 
broke  the  lowly  calling,  almost  whis 
pering  voice  of  the  one  without. 
They  drew  apart,  though  their  eyes 
and  hands  still  clung  unconsciously 
together. 

"Sensei.     Sensei!     Sensei!" 
204 


TAMA 

It  was  the  voice  of  the  student, 
Junzo ! 

With  a  low  cry,  the  Tojin  was  at 
the  doors,  wrenching  and  tearing  the 
great  images  away  with  the  strength 
of  a  veritable  giant.  At  last  the 
doors  were  reached,  and  these  in  turn 
thrust  aside. 

There,  with  their  anxious,  faithful 
young  faces  pale  with  apprehension 
in  regard  to  his  fate,  were  his  three 
loyal  boys,  Junzo,  Higo,  and  Nunuki. 
They  fell  literally  upon  him  with 
tears  and  shouts  of  joy.  They  de 
voured  him  with  their  youthful  em 
braces.  Higo  clung  to  one  hand, 
Junzo  to  the  other;  and  at  the  back 
of  him  Nunuki  hovered,  seeking  to 
examine  the  wound  upon,  his  neck 
where  the  sword  of  the  Daimio's  high 
officer  had  pierced.  It  was  healed,  so 
well  had  the  fox-woman  cared  for  it. 

Now,  step  by  step,  slowly,  uncer- 
205 


TAMA 

tainly,  she  crept  toward  them,  white- 
faced,  wild-eyed,  every  nerve  in  her 
thrilling,  and  reaching  out  blindly 
for  the  arms  that  had  held  her,  the 
lips  that  had  clung  to  her  own.  But 
she  stopped  with  her  tragic  little  face 
clasped  on  either  side  with  her  hands 
as  the  joyous  voices  of  the  students 
reached  her.  They  were  telling  the 
Tojin  of  the  coming  of  his  friends  to 
Fukui;  of  the  return  of  the  Echizen 
Prince;  of  the  punishments  to  be 
meted  out  to  those  who  had  attacked 
him;  the  rewards  for  those  who  had 
defended. 

"Even  we,"  said  Higo,  with  boyish 
pride,  "are  to  have  our  due  reward, 
for  we  have  honorably  been  chosen  as 
the  body-guard  of  the  Be-koku-jin 
(American),  who  has  come  to  Fukui 
to  minister  to  the  unfortunate  one, 
and  to  take  her,  if  your  excellency  is 
willing,  to  the  capital." 
206 


TAMA 

"The  unfortunate  one?"  repeated 
the  Tojin'  dully.  "To  whom  do  you 
refer?" 

The  boys  stared  at  him  in  round- 
eyed  amazement. 

The  fox-woman  of  course!  Who 
else  ?  That  unfortunate  one  to  whom 
the  whole  heart  of  Fukui  had  melted 
like  the  snows  of  her  native  mountains 
in  the  Spring.  It  was  the  work  of 
the  Tojin  himself  that  had  accom 
plished  the  miracle;  for  he  had 
pointed  out  to  them  all  the  absurdity, 
the  wrong  of  the  ancient  superstition, 
which  had  been  kept  alive  chiefly 
throughout  the  years  by  the  hatred 
of  those  who  were  ignorant  or  fa 
natic. 

Now  the  Prince  himself  was  con 
vinced  a  wrong  had  been  committed, 
and  Fukui  was  taking  its  cue  from 
him.  The  friend  of  the  Tojin  coming 
at  such  a  time  had  also  had  its  >effect 
207 


TAMA 

upon  the  people;  and  now  the  re 
morseful  ones  were  prepared  to  atone 
for  the  past  if  that  were  possible. 
It  was  the  suggestion  of  the  Be-koku- 
jin,  however,  that  the  girl  should  be 
taken  out  of  Fukui. 

Her  history  had  created  a  sensation 
among  her  father's  race  in  Tokio, 
and  there  they  were  eager,  anxious 
to  receive  her  among  them.  But  it 
was  for  the  Tojin  alone  to  say.  The 
change  of  heart  in  Fukui  was  com 
plete.  There  was  nothing  further 
to  fear. 

"Even  I,"  said  Nunuki  with  Spar 
tan-like  courage,  "am  prepared  to 
look  upon  her.  We  have  learned 
from  the  tongue  of  our  own  Prince 
and  from  the  Be-koku-jin  that  many 
females  of  your  race  have  her  skin 
and  hair  and  eye-color.  Is  it  not  so, 
honored  teacher?" 

But  the  Tojin-san  was  silent.  His 
208 


TAMA 

face  had  turned  strangely  gray;  his 
arms  hung  limply  by  his  side.  He 
was  staring  out  before  him  fixedly 
as  though  he  saw  a  vision. 


XXV 

"BuD  speag  to  me  as  before! 
Touch  me  wiz  those  hands — those 
lips!  Adoringly  look  upon  me!  My 
honorable  heart  and  body  are  cold. 
Condescend  to  warm  them!" 

She  had  followed  him  down  a  de 
clivity,  unmindful  of  the  students 
who  pressed  with  their  grave,  won 
dering  young  faces  closely  about 
her. 

She  could  not  understand  why  now 
no  longer  she  might  travel  beside 
him,  his  sheltering  arm  supporting 
her ;  why  she  might  not  even  take  his 
hand,  or  rest  her  wet  cheek  against 
his  sleeve.  In  the  three  days  they 
had  been  upon  the  journey  back  to 

2IO 


TAMA 

Fukui,  he  had  seemed  to  avoid  her, 
almost  as  if  he  feared  her. 

Once  he  tried  to  explain,  stupidly, 
and  with  a  forced  coldness. 

Things  were  very  different  now. 
When  alone,  they  were  like  lost  chil 
dren  and  the  silent  woods  and  moun 
tains  had  put  strange  dreams  and 
fancies  into  their  heads,  so  that  they 
had  wandered  along  in  a  blind,  gilded 
delirium.  Now  they  had  awakened. 
They  must  go  back  to  the  city,  where 
they  would  be  like  other  people,  and 
where,  shortly,  their  ways  must  sep 
arate.  It  was  for  her  good.  She  would 
understand  some  day. 

She  must  forget  the  mountain  days, 
or  think  of  them  only  as  a  dream  that 
had  vanished,  as  she  herself  had 
predicted  it  would,  like  the  mist. 

She  was  very  stupid,  very  stubborn, 
pathetically  dense.  She  did  not  wish 
their  paths  to  separate — she  would 

211 


TAMA 

not  have  it  so.  No,  though  they 
tore  her  from  him  by  force.  She 
would  return  to  him.  Did  he  not 
recall  the  words  he  had  spoken  when 
he  declared  the  dream  would  never 
end  unless  she  wished  it.  She  did  not 
wish  it.  She  never  would.  Patient 
ly,  persistently  she  entreated  him, 
until  he  was  beside  himself  and  felt 
his  strength  of  mind  weakening,  and 
in  desperation  turned  to  his  students 
for  help.  He  bade  them  explain  to 
her  more  clearly  than  he  could  do  the 
new  life  she  was  soon  to  lead — of  the 
change  in  fortunes  that  had  come  to 
her. 

Manfully,  but  in  the  bungling,  un 
certain  language  of  boys  they  tried 
to  obey  him.  The  unfortunate  one, 
as  unconsciously  they  called  her,  was 
soon  to  see,  promised  the  gentle 
Junzo.  There  was  to  be  an  honorable 
operation  upon  her  eyes.  These 

212 


TAMA 

western  wizards  of  science,  said  the 
Japanese  student,  had  given  sight  to 
hundreds  in  their  own  land.  The 
Tojin,  himself  once  a  doctor,  had 
diagnosed  her  trouble  as  an  invisible 
cataract  of  a  congenital  nature,  not 
uncommon  nor  difficult  of  removal. 
He  had  sent  for  a  great  and  eminent 
surgeon  who  was  sojourning  in  the 
capital.  He  had  come  all  the  way  to 
Fukui,  at  the  bidding  of  the  Tojin. 
He  was  a  miracle-worker,  whose  fame 
encircled  the  globe,  said  the  boy 
with  a  kindling  eye. 

A  hundred  friends  awaited  her  in 
Tokio,  so  Higo  courteously  informed 
her.  They  were  eager  and  anxious 
to  receive  her — Japanese  as  well  as 
foreigners.  To  them  Tama  was  to 
be  sent;  for  Fukui  had  been  unkind 
to  her,  and  she  would  be  happier 
away  from  it.  She  would  under 
stand  by-and-by,  they  promised  her. 
213 


TAMA 

She  listened  patiently,  but  densely, 
as  if  what  they  told  her  but  half 
reached  her  understanding.  That  she 
was  to  be  sent  away  into  some  dis 
tant  country — very  far  from  the  Tem 
ple  Tokiwa  and  Atago  Yama  —  an 
immeasurable  distance  away  from 
the  Tojin-san — this  alone  she  compre 
hended. 

Her  mother  had  taught  her  that 
the  life  of  a  Buddhist  nun  must  be 
one  long  act  of  expiation  for  sins  and 
faults  committed  in  some  former 
state.  She  tried  dazedly  to  conceive 
of  the  terrible  crimes  of  which  she 
must  have  once  been  guilty  that  now 
she  was  to  be  punished  so  dreadfully ; 
and  she  reached  out  blindly  for  the 
only  comfort  possible  for  her  in  the 
world  now — the  voice,  the  touch  of 
the  Tojin-san.  who  had  held  her  in 
his  arms! 

They  travelled  by  the  public  roads 
214 


TAMA 

of  the  mountain  that  she  had  so 
carefully  avoided.  They  passed  the 
nights  as  guests  of  the  priests  of  the 
mountain  temples,  who  read  the 
letters  of  the  Prince  of  Echizen,  which 
the  students  proudly  exhibited,  and 
with  courteous  and  profound  obei 
sances  welcomed  the  travellers,  even 
regarding  the  fox-woman  with  eyes 
that  were  more  speculative  than 
resentful.  Perhaps  they  alone  of 
Echizen  had  best  understood  this 
little  creature  who  had  lived  among 
them,  yet  beyond  their  pale,  for  so 
long ;  for  though  they  had  not  sought 
her,  neither  had  they  persecuted  her, 
as  they  could  readily  have  done. 
Indeed  for  years  she  had  practically 
subsisted  upon  the  food  she  surrep 
titiously  obtained  from  the  temples — 
some  of  which  was  unostentatiously 
placed  as  if  prepared  for  her. 

The  journey  back  to  Fukui  was 
215 


TAMA 

long  and  tortuous.  Summer  was 
gone  completely.  The  days  were 
cold ;  wind  and  rain  came  about  them 
and  drove  them  constantly  into 
refuges  of  one  sort  and  another;  but 
after  many  days  they  came  at  last 
to  the  foot-hills  of  the  mountains, 
passed  through  these  into  the  pine 
woods,  through  bamboo  groves  and 
camphor  groves,  till  they  came  to  the 
Winged  Foot  River,  which  brought 
them  to  their  destination. 


XXVI 

THE  last  courteous  and  obsequious 
emissary  of  the  Prince  of  Echizen  had 
bowed  himself  out  of  the  apartment 
of  the  Tojin-san,  having  sonorously 
delivered  the  speeches  of  regret  of 
their  master. 

The  room  was  piled  with  the  rich 
gifts  sent  by  the  now  soon  departing 
Prince,  who  was  to  take  office  directly 
under  his  imperial  master.  Now  he 
was  sojourning  in  Echizen  merely  for 
the  purpose  of  setting  his  affairs  in 
order,  and  to  do  what  lay  in  his  power 
to  set  his  former  vassals  in  the  new 
path  they  were  to  follow.  Because 
he  was  the  soul  of  chivalry  and  of 
justice,  he  was  righting  the  wrong 
15  217 


TAMA 

and  slight  paid  to  the  foreigner  he 
had  himself  invited  to  his  province. 

The  Tojin  was  inexpressibly  weary. 
One  deputation  after  another  of  the 
citizens  of  Fukui  had  been  arriving 
all  day.  They  had  commenced  com 
ing  before  daybreak,  for  the  earlier 
a  Japanese  makes  a  call  the  greater 
he  expresses  his  respect. 

Delegations  from  the  college  pre 
sented  petitions  asking  him  to  con 
tinue  in  Fukui,  despite  the  change  of 
government,  and  promising  to  make 
his  stay  there  as  happy  and  prosper 
ous  as  lay  within  their  power.  He 
listened  to  them  all  a  bit  grimly, 
making  no  effort  to  emulate  their 
politeness.  Through  the  new  inter 
preter  who  had  entered  his  service, 
he  merely  signified  that  he  would 
take  the  matter  under  considera 
tion.  It  could  not  be  decided  at 
once. 

218 


TAMA 

At  last  he  found  himself  alone  with 
the  Be-koku-jin,  as  they  called  his 
American  friend,  who  was  in  fact 
what  the  Japanese  youth  had  said, 
an  eminent  surgeon,  with  whom  the 
Tojin  had  once  been  associated. 

He  was  a  small,  but  very  dignified 
and  important  individual,  whose  most 
noticeable  features  were  his  bright 
eyes,  which  twinkled  incongruously 
beneath  a  pair  of  fierce  and  uncom 
promising  eyebrows.  In  his  well-fit 
ting  English  clothes  he  was  as  out  of 
place  in  the  Tojin's  great  chamber 
as  was  the  awkward  furniture  the 
deluded  Genji  Negato  had  chosen 
for  his  master. 

Now  he  wandered  about  the  room 
examining  this  and  that  article,  and 
fingering  the  gifts  brought  by  the 
Japanese  with  anticipatory  fingers. 
His  eyes,  however,  turned  constantly 
toward  his  friend,  who,  now  that  they 
219 


TAMA 

were  for  the  first  time  alone  together, 
had  nothing  to  say. 

The  American  surgeon  was  blessed 
with  more  than  an  ordinary  intelli 
gence,  and  he  had  learned  a  great 
deal  from  the  students.  A  man 
seemingly  absolutely  wrapped  up  in 
his  work,  he  had  for  years  secretly 
cherished  what  he  had  become  to 
believe  was  positively  a  vice.  He 
was  in  fact  as  sentimental  as  a  girl. 
When  supposedly  he  was  deeply  en 
grossed  in  the  study  of  some  scien 
tific  work,  locked  in  his  study  with 
stern  orders  without  that  on  no 
account  was  he  to  be  disturbed,  he 
was  in  fact  reading  some  love-story 
— or  some  romance  of  adventure 
usually  enjoyed  by  very  youthful 
persons. 

Now  he  felt  himself,  as  it  were,  part 
of  a  moving  captivating  drama  cut 
out  of  life  itself.  No  written  page 
220 


TAMA 

had  ever  absorbed  him  quite  like 
this  love-story  of  the  fox-woman  and 
his  friend  the  Tojin-san. 

There  was  something  appallingly 
tragic  in  that  little  listening,  waiting 
figure  crouching  there  in  the  hall 
against  the  Tojin's  door!  The  Be- 
koku-jin  knew  very  well  indeed  what 
it  was  this  forlorn  little  creature  of 
the  mountains  wanted;  he  knew,  too, 
why  it  was  that  the  Tojin  believed 
he  could  not  give  it  to  her. 

He  had  come  to  Fukui  chiefly 
because  he  had  been  unable  to  resist 
the  lure  of  the  story  of  the  fox-woman 
as  the  Tojin-san  had  written  it  to  him. 
Now  here  he  had  stumbled  upon  a 
more  entrancing  story  still. 

He  looked  at  his  friend  with  his 
bright,  clear  eyes,  and  it  occurred 
to  him  that  there  was  something 
wonderfully  attractive  about  the 
man's  face,  grim  and  stony  as  was  its 

221 


TAMA 

expression,  marked  and  marred  as 
were  the  features.  The  mouth  was 
that  of  the  revolutionist,  grim,  un 
yielding,  almost  bitter;  but  the  eyes 
were  those  of  the  poet,  full  of  vague 
dreams  and  tenderness.  The  Be- 
koku-jin,  assuming  his  most  pro 
fessional  and  uninterested  manner, 
drew  up  a  chair  before  his  friend, 
and  settled  his  plump  little  body 
comfortably  into  its  depths. 

"What  are  your  plans?"  he  asked 
abruptly. 

The  other  did  not  look  up. 

"That  depends  on  you,"  he  said 
quietly. 

"Your  refusal  or  acceptance  of  the 
position  here  depends  on  me?" 

"Absolutely." 

"What  do  you  mean?" 

The  Tojin-san  leaned  forward  in 
his  chair.  His  eyes  were  no  longer 
dull,  there  was  a  flame  behind  them. 

222 


TAMA 

"If  you  are  successful — I  remain 
here,  in  Fukui." 

"Ah.  Er — you  mean  as  regards  the 
operation?" 

"Yes." 

The  Be-koku-jin  regarded  the  tips 
of  his  fingers,  which  he  had  brought 
precisely  together,  reflectively.  He 
purposely  avoided  the  other's  almost 
pleading  glance.  He  cleared  his  throat 
gruffly,  and  frowned  as  he  crossed  and 
recrossed  his  legs. 

"Why  stay  in  any  event?"  he  de 
manded  shortly,  and  put  up  his  hand 
before  the  other  could  answer.  ' '  Your 
attitude  is  sentimental  moonshine. 
You  have  nothing  to  fear — even  if  the 
operation  is  successful.  I  don't  agree 
with — er — what  you  have  upon  your 
mind." 

"That  is  because  you  do  not  under 
stand  , ' '  said  the  To j in  wearily.  "She 
is  indeed  what  these  people  have 
223 


TAMA 

imagined  her — a  creature  almost  of 
another  world.  She  has  lived  only 
in  her  exquisite  imagination,  and 
because  she  is  so  beautiful  and  good 
and  pure,  to  her  all  things  too  are 
fair.  I  was  the  first  to  treat  her 
humanly.  She  has  made  me  some 
thing  in  her  mind's  eye  that  it  is  pre 
posterous  even  to  think  of.  To  her 
I — / — think  of  it! — am  a  thing  of 
beauty — a  flawless,  perfect  god!" 

He  glared  in  a  fierce  sort  of  anguish 
at  his  friend,  then  stood  up  suddenly 
and  began  pacing  the  floor  in  long 
irregular  strides,  to  bring  up  suddenly 
again  before  the  other. 

"I  do  not  wish  her  to  see  me — at 
all!  It  will  not  be  necessary.  I  ask 
you  to  take  her  for  me  to  Tokio. 
There  my  sister  will  meet  you,  and 
take  her  with  her  to  America."  He 
smiled  for  the  first  time.  "At  least 
I  can  do  that  for  her.  I  claimed  the 
224 


TAMA 

right  to  care  for  her,  and  refused 
even  the  smallest  help  from  Echizen 
and  others.  I  have  means — other 
than  my  work ;  and  what  I  have  will 
be  hers.  I  want  no  one  else  to  do 
for  her,"  he  added  jealously.  "I 
can  give  her  everything  she  needs 
or  may  want." 

The  Be-koku-jin  was  still  studying 
his  finger-tips,  and  there  was  a  curious 
expression  upon  his  face.  Suddenly 
he  looked  up  directly  at  the  Tojin-san. 

"Why  have  the  operation?" 

The  Tojin-san  had  turned  very  pale, 
but  his  voice  was  steady  and  strong. 

"I  have  been  through  all  that,  my 
friend — have  wrestled,  tortured  my 
very  soul  threshing  it  out.  That's 
the  solution  of  a  coward.  I  am  a 
man!" 

Said  the  other : 

"I  decline  to  perform  the  opera 
tion." 

225 


TAMA 

The  Tojin-san  stared  at  him  as  if 
he  could  not  believe  his  ears.  Then 
he  brought  his  hand  so  heavily  down 
upon  the  other's  shoulder  that  the 
smaller  man  jumped  under  the  touch. 

"You  prefer  to  leave  it  to  my 
bungling  hands?  Is  that  what  you 
came  to  Fukui  to  tell  me?" 

"As  I  said,"  said  the  other,  wincing 
still  under  the  Tojin's  hand,  "in  any 
event  you  exaggerate  the  effect  upon 
her.  Just  as  you  say — you  are  a 
man!" 

He  stood  up  abruptly. 

"You  will  do  it?"  demanded  the 
Tojin  hoarsely. 

"Yes,"  said  the  other,  blinking 
angrily,  "I  suppose  I  must." 

He  glared  for  a  moment  at  his 
friend  and  then  for  the  first  time  per 
mitted  himself  to  show  some  emotion 
in  his  voice  and  expression: 

"We'll  fight  it  out  between  us. 
226 


TAMA 

Sight  or  no  sight,  I  know  you  will  be 
the  same  to  her!" 

"It  is  not  alone  my  physical  de 
formity,"  said  the  Tojin,  steadily, 
' '  but  the  fact  that  I  am  old  enough  to 
be  her  father.  I  have  no  longer  the 
splendid  courage  of  youth  to  take  her 
in  spite  of  my  misfortune.  'Old 
Grind,'  that  was  what  they  called  me, 
even  in  America!" 

"Stuff!"  grunted  the  other.  "  'Old 
Bones'  was  the  affectionate  term 
applied  to  me.  At  this  rate  you'll 
put  us  in  our  dotage.  A  man  under 
forty  is  in  his  best  youth.  I  never 
felt  younger  in  my  life!"  he  snorted 
indignantly. 

"But  she  is  only  a  child,"  said  the 
Tojin  softly,  " — a  child  in  years — and 
in  heart!" 

"If  you  could  see  her,"  said  the 
other,  with  intense  earnestness,  "as  I 
have  had  occasion  to  since  last  night, 
227 


TAMA 


you  would  say  differently.  Child! 
why,  man,  she  is  a  suffering,  neg 
lected,  forsaken  little  woman!  Open 
your  door  to  her.  Don't  let  her  think 
it  as  stony  as  your  heart!" 


XXVII 

"TAMA!"  He  opened  the  sliding 
doors  at  last.  She  did  not  stand, 
even  when  he  spoke  to  her,  but  with 
a  mute,  wordless  sob  moved  a  pace 
nearer  to  him  on  her  knees,  and  put 
her  head  submissively  at  his  feet. 

He  stooped  above  her,  his  face 
working,  his  hands  trembling.  Gently 
he  lifted  her  to  her  feet,  only  to 
release  her  instantly. 

"Stand  there,"  he  said,  "while  I 
speak  to  you.  You  must  do  whatever 
the  Be-koku-jin  wishes  of  you.  He 
tells  me  you  have  resisted  his  attempts 
to  help  you.  If  I  tell  you  it  is  my 
wish,  my  very  dear  wish,  you  will  go 
with  him,  will  you  not?" 
229 


TAMA 

She  had  put  out  her  hands  in  the 
old  blind  way,  and  would  have  found 
him  had  he  not  stepped  back  sound 
lessly  as  she  approached  him.  She 
sighed  in  her  distress,  sighed  and 
sobbed,  like  a  tortured  child.  As  he 
looked  at  her  he  felt  his  resolve  far 
from  weakening,  becoming  even  more 
fixed.  He  would  not  have  her  this 
way,  blind  in  mind  and  in  sight. 
She  must  know  the  truth. 

"The  Be-koku-jin  will  help  you, 
Tama.  Soon  you  are  going  to  see, 
and  then  things  will  appear  very 
differently  to  you.  What  you  be 
lieve  now  to  be  beautiful  may  prove 
to  be  otherwise.  For  example,"  he 
continued  steadily,  "you  believe  me 
other  than  I  am  in  fact.  My  face  is 
horrible.  It  may  even  frighten  you, 
as  it  did  another  woman  once!" 

A  hush  fell  between  them.  Her 
eyes,  very  wide  and  dark,  were  fixed 
230 


TAMA 

upon  his  face,  almost  as  though  they 
were  endowed  with  sight. 

"Though  all  keep  dark  foraever  ad 
my  eyes,  still  I  would  know  your 
face — ad — my  heart!"  she  said. 

"If  you  could  really  see — "  he 
murmured  hoarsely,  almost  implor 
ingly. 

"Tojin-san!"  she  said,  "though  all 
the  worl'  come  before  my  eyes,  I 
would  know  you  only!  I  would 
follow  you — yaes  to  thad  worl's  end 
— if  you  bud  would  permit  me." 

He  made  a  motion  toward  her,  and 
with  that  smile  still  upon  her  face 
she  went  blindly  to  meet  him ;  but  as 
quickly  he  had  drawn  back  again,  and 
a  moment  later  turned  desperately 
toward  the  doors.  She  heard  him 
slide  them  open,  felt  the  cold  draught 
of  air  enter;  then  they  closed  again, 
and  she  heard  only  the  sound  of  his 
steps  as  he  passed  along  the  paths. 
231 


TAMA 

She  stood  unmoving,  listening  until 
even  the  faintest  sound  of  him  was 
gone.  Then  suddenly  she  ran  for 
ward,  feeling  her  way  with  her  hands 
till  she  came  to  his  chair.  Upon  her 
knees  she  sank,  sighing,  sobbing,  and 
buried  her  face  upon  her  arms  in  the 
lap  of  the  chair.  Here  the  Be-koku- 
jin  found  her,  sleeping  her  first  sleep 
in  many,  many  days,  exhausted,  but 
with  a  strange  look  of  peace  upon  her 
face  at  last! 


XXVIII 

THE  whole  of  the  city  of  Fukui  had 
turned  forth  into  its  streets.  Jost 
ling,  pushing,  shoving  each  other  aside 
they  elbowed  their  way  to  the  front. 
Children  were  raised  to  the  shoulders 
of  parents,  boys  climbed  upon  roofs 
and  poles  and  trees  to  see  the  spec 
tacle. 

The  runners  could  hardly  make 
a  passageway  through  the  throngs; 
but  there  was  no  disorder,  nor  the 
slightest  trace  of  antagonism,  as  the 
norimono  passed  slowly  down  the 
streets.  A  respectful  silence — a  si 
lence  that  had  in  it  an  element  of 
torturing  remorse  more  than  curios 
ity — fell  upon  the  throng. 
16  233 


TAMA 

The  bamboo  hangings  had  been 
drawn  back  from  the  norimon,  for  it 
was  the  desire  of  the  Tojin  that  all 
of  Fukui  might  see  the  fox-woman 
themselves,  see  and  judge  what  man 
ner  of  creature  was  this  they  had 
outcast  and  persecuted  through  all 
her  short  life. 

Beside  the  Be-koku-jin,  who  had 
performed  the  miracle  upon  her  eyes, 
she  sat,  her  face  white  as  snow,  her 
wide,  dazzled  eyes  gazing  bewilder- 
edly  about  her,  as  if  she  were  but  half 
conscious  of  what  she  saw,  but  half 
comprehended  its  meaning.  They  had 
confined  most  of  her  golden  hair  in 
some  shimmering  gray  veil  that  float 
ed  about  her  like  a  cloud,  but  little 
moist  curls  clung  about  her  brow  and 
blew  from  beneath  the  veil  in  tender, 
kissing  tendrils  about  her  cheeks. 

At  her  feet,  with  her  fascinated, 
infatuated  eyes  pinned  upon  her 
234 


TAMA 

face,  crouched  the  maid  Obun,  who 
was  pledged  to  her  service  by  the 
Tojin-san. 

The  carriage  was  full  of  flowers 
that  those  friendly  inclined  had  sent 
her,  and  the  white  hands  of  the  fox- 
woman  now  aimlessly  held  a  sheaf  of 
poems  and  of  love-letters  penned  her 
by  ardent  and  impetuous  youths, 
who  found  their  warm  hearts  and 
imaginations  suddenly  fired  by  her 
appealing  history  and  beauty. 

She  spoke  not  at  all,  neither  to 
answer  the  occasional  word  of  re 
assurance  from  the  Be-koku-jin,  nor 
the  sometimes  sobbing  utterances  of 
Obun,  who  seemed  to  find  in  her 
triumphal  progress  through  the  city 
an  occasion  for  tears. 

It  grew  darker,  the  air  chillier.     It 
was  the  Season  of  Cold  Dew,  when 
even  the  last  gasping,  fading  beauty 
of  the  autumn  ceased  to  appeal. 
235 


TAMA 

As  the  cortege  reached  the  city's 
limits  the  crowds  following  grad 
ually  drew  back,  and  as  it  passed 
out  into  the  great  road  whereon 
they  were  to  travel  on  the  long  jour 
ney,  the  last  of  the  followers  de 
parted. 

Besides  the  Be-koku-jin  and  the 
maid  Obun  there  were  three  students, 
proudly  acting  as  body-guard.  Sev 
eral  dozen  bearers  and  servants  also 
accompanied  the  party.  No  halt 
was  made  until  the  last  rays  of  the 
setting  sun  had  disappeared  entirely 
from  the  sky.  Then  the  runners 
rested,  and  the  Be-koku-jin  alighting 
walked  with  his  head  bent,  his  hands 
behind  him,  as  if  plunged  in  some 
troubled  thought.  The  students  drew 
together  in  a  whispering  group  and 
watched  the  famous  surgeon,  or  threw 
furtive  glances  in  the  direction  of  the 
fox-woman,  whom  none  of  them,  as 
236 


TAMA 

yet,  had  found  the  courage  to  look 
upon  unmoved. 

She  was  sitting  upright  in  her 
norimon.  The  veil  had  blown  back 
partly  from  her  head,  and  her  hair 
shone  like  the  moon  above  her. 
Obun  entreated  her  to  rest,  and 
when  she  received  no  response,  her 
self  drew  the  hangings  about  them, 
and  prepared  the  carriage  for  the 
night.  As  if  she  had  been  a  child, 
she  laid  the  fox-woman  down  among 
the  quilts,  and  then  herself  crept 
under  the  covers,  falling  into  a  heavy 
sleep  which  lasted  without  a  break 
the  long  night  through  as  jerking, 
swinging,  tossing  on  high  upon  the 
shoulders  of  the  kurumaya  they 
travelled  on  and  on  toward  Tokio. 


XXIX 

IN  the  Shiro  Matsuhaira  the  Tojin 
sat  alone.  They  had  taken  away  the 
untasted  meal  upon  the  trays;  his 
pipe  lay  unlit  upon  the  hibachi ;  upon 
a  table  hard  by  his  American  mail 
and  papers  lay  untouched,  unopened. 
He  sat  staring  at  something  he  held 
in  his  hands.  It  was  no  larger  than 
his  hand,  worn,  ragged,  and  soiled — 
a  little  sandal  of  straw!  This  was 
all  he  had  left  of  her.  She  had 
passed  out  of  his  life  as  completely 
as  the  mist  vanishes  into  the  clouds. 

What  were  her  thoughts  now,  he 

wondered  dully — now  that  she  knew! 

He  had  seen  her  but  once,  after  the 

operation.     She    had    come    like    a 

238 


TAMA 

shadowy  little  spirit  into  his  chamber; 
and  she  had  said  nothing  at  all ;  had 
merely  looked  at  him  out  of  her  wide, 
hungry  eyes.  As  silently  as  she  had 
come,  so  she  had  gone!  Passively, 
obediently  she  had  gone  with  the 
Be-koku-jin.  This  was  what  he  had 
wished,  had  required  of  her.  Then 
why  this  aching,  harrowing  sense  of 
anguish  ? 

He  closed  his  eyes,  and  gave  him 
self  up  to  the  last  luxury  left  him — 
the  casting  of  his  mind  adrift  upon  a 
sea  of  memories,  wherein  he  might 
recall  her  as  she  had  been,  see  her 
again  pressed  against  his  side,  breathe 
the  dear  fragrance  of  her  hair,  hear 
the  music  of  her  voice. 

Outside  the  wind  was  whistling  and 
moaning  through  the  leafless  gardens, 
and  a  rain  began  to  fall,  pelting 
against  his  shutters,  dripping  in  mel 
ancholy  splashes  from  the  eaves.  How 
239 


TAMA 

barren,  how  God-forsaken  seemed  this 
Yashiki  of  feudal  days !  He  recalled 
his  first  night  in  this  same  chamber. 
How  cold  it  had  been,  how  penetrat 
ingly  desolate! 

Now  the  winter  was  coming  again. 
Soon  the  white  snow  would  wrap  its 
icy  shroud  about  the  Palace  Matsu- 
haira,  and  there  would  be  a  silence— 
a  silence  less  bearable  than  the  grave 
— out  there  on  those  mountains  of 
snow. 

But  the  people  of  Fukui  would  come 
to  him  daily  with  their  problems, 
their  ambitions,  and  questions;  and 
they  would  look  to  him  as  a  guide  and 
supporter  along  the  new  glittering 
road  they  wished  to  tread;  for  the 
fever  of  the  New  Japan  was  animat 
ing  the  entire  nation,  and  Fukui  had 
caught  the  epidemic.  And  they  would 
bestow  honors  and  favors  upon  the 
Tojin-san,  fame  and  riches,  too;  for 
240 


TAMA 

at  the  period  of  the  rebirth  of  a  na 
tion  its  teachers  become  its  prophets 
—its  leaders!  Yes,  there  was  such  a 
career  to  his  hand  as  he  could  never 
have  attained  in  that  other  land, 
whither  they  were  taking  the  fox- 
woman  now.  It  was  this,  had  said 
the  Be-koku-jin,  which  must  be  his 
solace,  his  comfort. 

He  stood  up  unsteadily,  his  hand 
resting  upon  the  table.  Some  one  had 
knocked  upon  his  door.  He  smiled, 
in  the  old  grim,  bitter  way. 

He  could  not  be  tricked  by  his  im 
agination  again.  She  was  very  far 
away  by  now,  miles  from  Fukui,  for 
it  was  past  midnight,  and  her  cor 
tege  would  take  an  unbroken  course 
toward  the  great  highway  which 
eventually  would  lead  them  to  the 
metropolis. 

But  the  knocking  was  repeated, 
softly,  gently,  a  sound  such  as  a  little 
241 


TAMA 

timid  bird  in  the  wet  night  might 
have  made  in  beating  its  wings  upon 
the  wall. 

He  heard  the  soft  moving  of  the 
doors,  and  still  he  did  not  stir. 

Now  she  stood  between  them,  her 
eyes  fully  upon  him,  drawing,  com 
pelling  his  gaze.  Upon  her  vivid, 
passionate  little  face  there  was,  at 
last,  that  look  of  peace  and  rest  that 
comes  to  one  upon  a  journey's  end. 

The  water  dripped  from  her  haori, 
and  clung  in  glittering  drops  upon  her 
hair,  her  lashes. 

He  could  not  even  speak  her  name. 
He  could  only  gaze  at  her  entranced, 
as  at  that  other  time  when  he  had 
come  to  consciousness  within  the 
woods,  and  had  found  her  face  hover 
ing  like  a  spirit's  above  his  own. 

She  said  as  if  answering  the  ques 
tion  he  could  not  speak: 

"Yaes — it  is  I — To-o-jin-san!" 
242 


TAMA 

With  a  motion,  inexpressibly  sweet, 
she  put  out  her  little  hands,  just  as  she 
had  done  ere  she  could  see,  and  a 
beseeching,  quivering  little  smile  was 
on  her  lips. 

"In  the  honorable  wet  dark — all 
those  way — I  have  come  bag  to  you, 
kind  Tojin-san!" 

His  voice  shook  so  that  he  did  not 
recognize  it  as  his  own. 

"You  found  your  way — " 

"Wiz  these  my  eyes  closed,"  she 
said,  "ad  udder  end  those  whole 
worl' — tha's  same  thing  Tojin-san — 
I  find  way  bag  unto  you!" 

' '  Why  ?"  he  demanded  with  a  rough 
passion  that  yet  tore  and  intoxicated 
him. 

She  reached  out  her  arms  to  him 
yearningly,  pleadingly. 

"Tek  me  ad  you  arms  again!"  she 
said.     "Toach   me   on  my   lips   wiz 
yours.     I  will  tell  you — then!" 
243 


TAMA 

His  last  reserve  was  gone;  he  had 
no  wish  to  hold  it.  Subtly,  irresist 
ibly,  she  had  drawn  him  to  her ;  now 
he  had  taken  her  back  into  his  arms ! 

He  felt  her  little  fingers,  as  of  old, 
passing  across  his  face  until  they 
found  his  lips,  and  there  she  placed 
her  own. 


THE    END 


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